Dear Other Daddy and Mommy
by RunWithTheWolf
Summary: A girl writes letters throughout her life to the birth parents she never knew. Bruce and Diana receive them all when she turns 21. With the League and their children, they are forced to account for their actions, realize their accidental shaping of her young life and the influence they have on the average citizen.
1. Letter 1: Adopted

The bundle of letters was unexpected but not unpleasant. They were held together with a thick elastic band that popped smoothly off the pile with one tug from his hand. He looked up and met her eyes; it had been twenty-one years, what had happened in twenty-one years? They were about to find out.

He handed her the first letter off the top of the pile. It was written in red crayon and had Disney Princess stickers dancing across the bottom. The page had yellowed slightly but was still perfectly readable; she met his eyes again, took a breath and started to read aloud.

* * *

Dear Other Daddy and Mommy,

I turned 8 today! Mommy made me a birthday cake in the shape of a Princess Crown and I got to wear my prettiest dress for the party. It was exciting. Daddy says that I'm the prettiest princess that he ever saw after Mommy. They gave me a puppy! He is brown and tiny and barks a lot and he tried to chew on one my dolls but Daddy stopped him. I named him Patches cause he's got a big white patch on his belly. He likes it when I rub his belly. He licks my nose.

Daddy and Mommy sat me down after the party today when all my friends went home. They said they have something important to tell me. I have another Daddy and Mommy. Daddy and Mommy said it means that I'm adopted. They looked sad and asked if I was ok. They said that they love me and my other Daddy and Mommy love me. Daddy and Mommy said that you only gave me away because you thought I would be happier with Daddy and Mommy.

So I want to tell you that I am happy! Daddy and Mommy are the bestest parents ever and I love them a lot. I love Patches too. And all my friends. I even like school, lots of my friends don't like school which is silly because it makes you smarter. Daddy says I'm already too smart for my own good. He's silly.

I asked Mommy if I could meet you but they said that they didn't know who you are. That made me sad. But Daddy said that Other Daddy told him that I could find them when I turned 21, if I wanted. That's a long time away from 8. I'll be all grown up so I'm going to write you letters okay? So that you can know me when I'm 8 and 9 and 10 too, not just when I'm all grown up and serious.

My best friend at school doesn't have a Mommy or a Daddy, she lives with her Grandma. I feel sad for her. It's not fair that I get two Daddys and two Mommys, maybe we could share. I will ask Mommy.

Love,

Sarah Kaitlyn Donnell

P.S. Mommy says that Other Daddy picked the name Sarah – good choice, it's pretty


	2. Letter 2: The Game

Her eyes were shining, her smile was beautiful, her tears unshed, "She doesn't hate us." That had always been the fear sitting in the back of their mind, that their child, their beautiful little girl would resent them, hate them, not understand the choice they had made. There was sadness in her eyes too. Sadness that she hadn't known Sarah all along, a twinge of guilt at the innocent words 'gave me away'. But overall she was happy because Sarah was healthy and happy.

He wanted to feel the same way. He clasped his wife's hand in his own and wished that he too could feel relief, but he knew better. Certainly the little eight year old girl would forgive, but what about the preteen, the teenager, the young adult currently walking the streets, would she be as forgiving?

There were two consolations that gave him hope despite his usual nature. She was alive. That had always been the goal, to keep her alive. The second was more personal, she'd made it to 8. His little girl was 8 years old and still happy, healthy, and not hounded by grief and loss. She'd beaten him and that was the only thing he wanted.

The second letter was placed in his free hand. This one was also yellowed with age, some kind of orange smudge dotting the edges from pudgy fingers. The writing had been upgraded to pencil but there was still a crayon drawing on the bottom. It was a picture of a castle, with a princess and dragon. He stared at it.

"It's your turn to read Bruce," Diana said softly.

* * *

Dear Other Daddy and Mommy,

Mommy and Daddy and Patches and I play a game every Friday night. We sit get to sit on the floor in a circle and use my old 101 Dalmatian bedsheets to make a fort! It's a cool fort! Daddy calls it my castle cause I'm a Princess. I put my stuffed crocodile Cranky in the moat to protect us. Then Mommy gets marshmallows and chocolate and cheezies and we eat them. One time Patches tried to eat a marshmallow and starting puking. We don't let him eat them anymore. Then we all tell a story or a secret or something silly that happened in the week. Even if everyone's heard it. Daddy always tells silly stories about Princesses and Heroes and Dragons. Mommy says that doesn't count but Daddy says that writers are allowed to make up stories. I love Daddy's stories.

Yesterday was Friday. But Daddy and Mommy both told me the same story. They said that I'm getting a little brother! I'm so excited. Mommy said that my brother is a medical miracle. Then Daddy said that he better be because he was expensive. Mommy laughed and threw a cheezie at his head. I threw a marshmallow because I like cheezies too much to waste them on throwing. We had a food fight! It was silly. We weren't watching and Patches ate a marshmallow. He puked. It was green with orange chunks. Where did the orange chunks come from? Patches' food is brown. Daddy didn't know, do you know other Daddy?

I'm going to be Mommy's special helper. Daddy said that I can't tell Mommy that he said this but I need to make sure that she's super-duper careful. I don't want anything bad to happen to my brother. I'm going to be the bestest big sister ever. I'm going to keep him away from the stairs and teach him not to put legos up his nose like I did that one time. It hurt. I had to go to the hospital to get it taken out. They let me keep it after though so it was okay. And I'm going to teach him how to spit properly. Lots of kids don't know how to spit. They just dribble on their chins. I can hit pinecones off trees. Mommy says it's not ladylike. I'm not a lady.

Other Mommy, Other Daddy, I was thinking. Do I have other brothers or a sister? Did you keep them or did you give them away too? I think I'd like a sister. Boys can be silly sometimes. I asked Mommy for a sister but she said that God had already been good enough. So I think that you should get me a sister. Then when I'm all grown up and get to meet you I'll get one brother and one sister and two Mommy's and two Daddy's. Mommy says that it's bad manners to tell people what to do. I'm sorry.

Love,

Sarah Kaitlyn Donnell

P.S. This time I'm not telling, can I please have a sister?

P.P.S Sometimes Patches pukes up rocks too, why do dogs eat rocks?


	3. Letter 3: Aaron Apricot

Diana's eyes were sparkling, "Well Bruce," she asked, "Why _do _dogs eat rocks?"

"Can't say it's something I've given much thought to," He confessed with a smirk, then it twitched slightly.

She understood. If Sarah had always been theirs, if she'd grown up with them in Wayne Manor then he would have given time to pondering why dogs ate rocks. Why dog barf had orange chunks, why Princesses lived in castles. They would have built forts out of sheets and eaten Cheezies. Sarah might have had the little sister she apparently so badly desired. They wouldn't be the _other_ Daddy and Mommy, they'd just be Daddy and Mommy.

Diana put a hand on her stomach, it wasn't a gesture that she'd consciously done in a long time. Even through the cotton t-shirt she could feel the thick scar that ran between her belly button and hip bone.

All possible in another life but not in this one, sometimes the fates were cruel.

* * *

Dear Other Daddy and Mommy,

I'm officially a big sister! Proudly announcing the birth of Aaron Roger Donnell! He looks like a dried apricot but cuter. Mommy let me be the first person to hold him after Daddy but I had to be really careful not to drop him. Mommy says that he's fragile so I was careful. He was born on Hero's Day; I heard some of the other people saying that it was bad luck to be born on Hero's Day because it's sad. That's silly, there's no such thing as luck. Daddy says that the only luck is the luck that we make happen.

Normally on Hero's Day we go to the big park with everyone else and remember all of the Superheroes and firefighters and policemen and doctors who died helping people. Did you know that Hero's Day is the same day that one of the Justice League Kids died? That's why they started it and then it grew, I didn't know that until I read it on a poster in the hospital waiting room. That's sad. But Aaron makes Hero's Day happy. I can't wait for him to come home and meet Patches, I'm going to make sure that Patches doesn't jump on him cause Aaron is tiny and I want him to be safe.

Guess what other exciting thing happened? I got to skip grade four and go straight to grade five! I was really excited but now I'm not as excited. I like that school isn't boring anymore and that I can actually learn interesting things but I miss all of my friends. I don't see them very much anymore because grade four and grade five have different recess times. And a lot of the grade fives don't like me very much, Mommy says that it's because I'm still smarter than they are. They don't really talk to me unless the teacher makes them, I didn't tell Daddy that because sometimes he gets really mad.

There is one boy who is nice to me though. His name is Jay West and he's supposed to be in grade six but he got held back a year. He says that he's not smart but I think he's smart in other ways that schools are silly enough not to test. He tells lots of jokes and makes everyone smile. Jay plays the guitar. He has a twin sister named Iris but she didn't get held back. Jay has a funny scar running down the side of his head. He keeps his hair long to hide it but he let me see it one time. He wouldn't tell me how he got it though.

We get to take Aaron home now. The first thing I'm going to do is give him one of my teddy bears so that he'll always have a best friend. Best friends are important.

Love,

Sarah Donnell


	4. Letter 4: Baseball in the Window

"Jay West," Diana said, "our daughter is friends with Flash's son. What are the chances?"

Bruce leaned back into his chair, "I'll assume that was a hypothetical question. Well at least we know that she grew up in Central City." He paused and looked longingly in the direction of the BatCave, "I don't suppose you'll let me look her up now?"

Diana was firm, "No, we learn everything from the letters first. Then you can hack files to your heart's content."

Bruce's eye twitched but he didn't press the matter, "If I find out that they start dating… Flashbomb better hope he's as fast as his dad."

"Come on Bruce," Diana didn't take his threat seriously, "Jay's a good kid. Just be glad that Sarah had a friend that we know is a good influence. Besides maybe he can introduce us…" she looked longingly at the one photo they had of their daughter. Alfred had taken the photo shortly after Sarah was born. Diana was still in the Watchtower infirmary, Sarah wrapped tightly in her arms with Bruce looking adoringly down at them; one hand on his new daughter, the other wrapped around his wife's shoulders.

The few people who were allowed to see the photo always said that it was one of the few times that The Batman looked cuddly.

Diana looked up suddenly, "Do you think Wally knew that she was our daughter?"

"Unlikely," Bruce shook his head, "Wally is one of the few people who know we have a daughter but even with that knowledge he's unlikely to make that connection to a little girl whose friends with his son. Even if she was a carbon copy of us in appearance Clark Kent is proof that people see what they want to see."

"Still," Diana's eyes had yet to dim since they'd started reading, "this is a blessing. She'll be comfortable around at least some of superhero community, around our friends."

Bruce didn't want to do it but Diana had a strict policy about him not keeping thoughts to himself, "At least the ten year old girl was comfortable around our friends. We've still got another eleven years to go."

* * *

Dear Other Dad and Mom,

Aaron started walking today; it's hard to believe that he's almost one! He's started talking too, but he can't say my name right because he has trouble with the letter S. He calls me 'arah or 'iter, which I believe is short for sister. He's absolutely adorable. He has brown hair just like Mom and Dad and already has freckles across his nose despite Mom's paranoia about sunscreen. I hate sunscreen, it feels gross and I always wipe it off when she's not looking.

Aaron is cute and I love him but he slobbers a lot and on all my stuff. That's kind of annoying. I trained Patches to stop chewing on my stuff but Dad says that we can't train Aaron to stop drooling, he'll just learn eventually. I hope it's sooner than later. Patches has gotten huge! I didn't realize he would be such a big dog when we got him. Dad was surprised too, I don't think he was happy about it either.

He hasn't been happy about much lately though. He's a writer and he can't find very much work so Mom is going off of her maternity leave early. She works in an office. Dad always smiles when she's around though, he loves her so much. It's cute. I hope that when I grow up and get married that I can be just like them. Although I'll be nicer to my kids, I'll never yell at them like Dad does to me sometimes. I know that he still loves me though. But he didn't have to get that mad, Jay and I didn't mean to hit the baseball into the car window.

Grade Six isn't much better than Grade Five was. The other kids still don't like me very much. I've got Jay but he doesn't really understand. Everyone is super nice to him because Iris is popular and they don't want to make her mad. I'm too shy to be popular, I could never talk to everyone the way that Iris does. Plus lots of those kids act really really stupid and that's irritating. Mom says that I have patience/anger issues. I just want things done right. That's okay though, I'm happy with Jay. Sometimes I see my old friends and they're usually nice too.

I'm trying to learn how to cook. Mom won't have as much time when she starts work again and Dad is helpless in the kitchen. I'm not very good yet. I think that I'm going to ask Mr. West for help. He's a really good cook and he always seems to be eating. Jay and Iris eat a lot too and they're still skinny. I love being at the West's house. Everyone is really happy and they tell jokes all of the time. Iris is nicer to me there too, she said something about how at school you have to act a certain way. Mrs. West didn't look happy with that comment. Mr. West disappears sometimes. Jay says that the lab needs his help all the time. I never want to work in a lab, it looks too busy. He's always back really fast though.

School is super busy; the teacher is always assigning new projects. Our latest one is about superheroes. We have to research them, their powers, their history all of that stuff. The project before was the same thing but it was about scientists. Jay wanted to do ours on The Flash but I talked him into doing Wonder Woman. It's probably still the eight year old in me talking but I love the idea that she's an actual Princess. Jay had all sorts of interesting information, I don't know where he found it though cause I thought that I'd read all the books in the library on her. I need to get another A. Dad loves it when I get As.

Love,

Sarah Donnell


	5. Letter 5: Dead

Dear Other Dad and Mom,

Mom is dead. She died last week but I couldn't, I couldn't write this until now.

Everyone tries to be really nice to me, they tell me that it's going to be okay. They're stupid, nothing is going to be okay ever again. I've started running away from them, hiding in corners. I can't stand their fake smiles, their fake tears. The funeral home had a great hiding place, it was a boiler room or something. No-one found me there. I heard them searching but I didn't care. It didn't matter. I just wanted Mom to find me. She would have found me. She always knew where I was, exactly what I needed. She wouldn't have said that it was going to be okay, she just would have hugged me, really really tight. I'd give anything for her to hug me again. I waited and waited.

Dad hasn't hugged me since we first found out. He got a call on the phone and went running out of the house. I had just gotten home from school and he told me to watch Aaron. He came home a long time later and just sat in his big chair, the one that he writes in. He didn't say anything. He waited hours to tell me. And when he did he just said it, "Sarah, Mom's dead." Then he told me what happened. He acts normal around all of the other people, when they come to visit or at the funeral home or when they call, but he's not normal. He kind of just sits around. I'm sure he'll snap out of it. I'm taking care of Aaron until he gets better. Mom would want me to take care of Aaron.

I've slept in Aaron's room all week, on the floor beside his crib. He's one and he doesn't understand. He smiles and he's happy looking. When I look at Aaron I can forget that Mom is gone. I can't forget when I see Dad. He's held Aaron though, I know cause when I get home from school Aaron's not in the same place as when I left. All the kids at school look at me funny, the teachers are really nice but I don't want to be at school. I want to go back to that boiler room. It was warm and safe. I haven't done any homework but no-one seems to care.

Lots of people keep trying to give me hugs, I don't let them. No-one hugged as good as Mom did. I still hug Aaron, he's soft and squishy. Jay didn't try to hug me, I think that maybe he understood. I don't play at recess anymore, I just sit in the grass. Jay sat right beside me and didn't say anything. We did that for lots of recesses. Then one recess I started to cry. It was funny, I hadn't cried since the first time I found the boiler room. Then Jay hugged me. I let him. He wasn't Mom but at least he wasn't fake like all of the other people. He didn't have Dad's empty eyes. Jay cried a little too.

Mom died because a bad guy planted a bomb in her office building. It's the Flash's fault. I read about it in the paper. They planted the bomb because they wanted to break the Flash's spirit, they wanted to make him fail. He got there really fast and he thought that he'd saved everyone. Apparently he doesn't know how to diffuse bombs so he just got all of the people outside. But Mom was in the bathroom and he didn't see her. She blew up.

He came to the funeral. He talked to my Dad and he looked really sad. He even looked like he was crying. He didn't see me, I was hiding under the tables where it's safe. I hate him. He should have been more careful. He should have looked harder. He's always fighting this bad guy, why was he not in jail? He shouldn't have let the bad guy get away with it. He's just going back to jail to do it again. That's stupid. The Flash is stupid. The laws are stupid if they're letting people like that out of jail. If they're letting the superheroes chose who gets to live and who dies. That's called accountability. I know because Dad wrote an article on it.

It's not fair. Mom was the best person ever. She was the nicest and the smartest and the prettiest. It's not going to be okay, no matter what all the people say. It's not going to be okay again, not for me. Maybe for Aaron though, I'll make sure he's always ok and happy. That's what Mom would have wanted.

Sarah Donnell

* * *

Diana and Bruce both wept.


	6. Letter 6: Glass

Dear Other Dad and Mom,

It's been six months since my last letter, a lot has happened, most of it bad. My grades are dropping in school, I'm trying really hard to keep them up but I don't have the time anymore. Don't be mad at me too, Dad was mad enough. He doesn't do much anymore. He took a leave from work and they're sending a couple of checks but it's not much. He drinks most of it away too. I've started beating him to the mailbox. It's not that hard actually, he doesn't like to get up. Plus I can hear him coming when all of the bottles clank around and he crushes the glass bits.

I hate school now. It's as boring as ever but there's more to do and I can't keep up and look after Aaron and Dad. The worst part is that Jay moved away. They moved to Keystone City I think. Jay didn't tell me, he e-mails sometimes though. I think he felt bad there was something with his Dad and they had to move. It was weird going to their house anyway, Mr. West treated me really weird since the accident. But Mrs. West was nice and I really miss Jay. Nobody else cared.

Aaron is walking now and talking in small sentences. He's so cute. He looks just like Mom. Sometimes I'm afraid that I'll forget what she looks like, it's hard to see her anymore in our house. Dad started smoking again and the house is starting to look like a fog. I tried opening windows but he yells at me. I just keep Aaron's window open and his door closed. I worry about him when I'm at school though. I'd like to get someone in to look after Aaron but I know that Dad won't allow it; I couldn't pay them anyway. I skip out every chance I can to stay home but if I'm gone too often the school will start calling home. The last time Dad found out I was skipping he was so mad. It took me hours to get all of the glass out of my cheek, I'm just glad Aaron was asleep.

When I'm gone I just leave Aaron's bottles out and some cheerios in a bowl. He's already potty trained so that helps. It took me a long time but diapers are really expensive so I had to do it early. I got a newspaper route to help pay for everything but I don't get a lot. I'm just worried that one day Aaron is going to figure out that he can open his bedroom door and run into Dad when he's in a bad mood. Dad's usually passed out during the day but I still worry that something bad is going to happen. I don't use my bedroom anymore, I just stay in Aaron's room. That way I can make sure he's safe. I'm a light sleeper now because sometimes Dad remembers that we exist in the middle of the night. He's usually angry about something. I make sure that I get out of Aaron's room before he can get there and head him off at the pass. Mom always said to find the positives, if I kind of squint one of the scars looks like a tiara. I think it's from that time when I ended up in the pile of broken glass. But Dad was really sorry.

I know that it's not safe for us to stay here, that I could just tell someone and we could leave. But I won't. I'm afraid that they'll separate Aaron and I. I'm afraid that something bad will happen to Dad. He's the only parent I've got and I know that he'll snap out of it eventually, some people just take longer to heal. I'm afraid that they're going to leave too. Aaron may be little and Dad may be drunk a lot but they've never left me. They've always stayed. I can't lose more. As long as I can keep Aaron safe we'll be okay. Dad will come around eventually and we can be one family again. I've just got to hold us together.

Sarah

* * *

"West!" The Batman baritone ripped through the room, almost seeming to precede the man shouting it. Wally and Linda West and Clark and Lois Kent were lounging in the Watchtower conference room waiting to hear from Bruce and Diana; they were however, surprised to hear from them so early. They all jumped upon the emergence of the Bat-voice.

They exchanged glances, "Should I answer that?" Flash asked.

He didn't have a chance. Batman burst into the room and had Wally pressed against the wall before the Fastest Man Alive could react. The room stared in stunned silence at the sudden display before them.

Diana flew through the door a moment later, "Bruce!" She forcibly pulled him back from Wally, "Control yourself. It's nobody's fault." She let out a little hiccup, "It was years ago."

Superman took in the expressions of his friends, Batman's face was murderous, Diana still had tear trails on her cheeks, Wally looked pale, Linda concerned, Lois curious, "Bruce, Diana," he said at last, "What exactly is going on here? Did you finish with the letters?"

Batman sat only because Wonder Woman made him, but when he took her hand it was obvious that Bruce was still around. Diana inhaled and tried to speak, inhaled, exhaled, the words wouldn't come.

"Eleven years ago," Bruce took over looking at Wally and Linda, "You moved from Central City to Keystone, why?"

Wally looked quickly at Linda and then back at Batman, "This is important why Bats?"

"Answer the question," Bruce barked.

Linda leaned forward, "Jay and Iris were starting to display powers. We moved because Keystone was a better fit for their training, nothing sinister Bruce." She tried to catch Diana's eye but Wonder Woman wouldn't meet her.

"True," Bruce had gone into interrogation mode, "but you're the _Flash family_ you didn't need to move, you can be anywhere in the blink of an eye. So why did you move?"

"Bruce," Diana said softly, "we should finish the rest first…"

He didn't take his eyes of Wally, "Why did you move West?"

"I just wanted a change," he said nonchalantly.

Bruce saw Lois straighten from the other side of Clark, she obviously smelled more to the story too.

Bruce's voice took on a soft but dangerous 'lie to me and I'll drop you off this building tone', "A change from what?"

Wally never was good at lying. He cracked and looked at the ground, "There was a kid alright? A friend of Jay's from school. The year before I'd messed up, remember that whole deal with Mirror Master? The bomb he planted in that office building? It killed one person, her mom." Flash put his head in his hands, "I didn't mean to, but I wasn't fast enough to save my son's best friend's mother. Then she'd come to our house and I just, I couldn't face her." He looked up hopefully, "It wasn't the best choice I know but she was a good kid, bright as a whip, good family. She'd make new friends."

Wally still looked upset over the whole affair and Superman had to ask, "Why the third degree Bruce?"

Bruce ignored him. Clark made to ask again but Diana subtly shook her head, there was no stopping him now. And part of her wanted to know as well, she spoke up "Did Jay keep in touch?"

Wally shrugged, "I don't think so. A couple of e-mails right after we left is all."

"Not exactly," Linda interrupted him, "Wally, Jay still talks to her once in a while. He even took her to his high school prom after Victoria canceled." Bruce stiffened and Wally's jaw dropped. Linda continued, "We all knew that it was a sore spot for you so we just didn't mention it." She looked back at Bruce, "They don't speak much, but I know they try to meet up once a year."

"Kid got a name?" Batman asked quickly.

Linda nodded, "Sarah Donnell."

Diana's breathing hitched. Part of her had been pretending that this wasn't real, that Sarah's letters had really just been a story, fiction, over-done; to hear it confirmed was something else entirely.

Lois caught on first, "Oh my God," Her eyes sharped on the crumpled letter still in Bruce's fist and the stack cradled in Diana's, "Your daughter's name was Sarah."

Heads swiveled, the Wests froze, replaying their memories of Sarah and comparing her to the couple before them. Bruce confirmed, "One and the same according to these."

Sarah Donnell. Donnell. The names was ringing bells in the back of Superman's memories, he'd had a run in with Donnells. "How far in are you?" He asked.

Diana set the stack on the table, "She's eleven, almost twelve, grade 7."

Bruce was less generous, "Her mother just died, her best friend moved away, her dad's become an alcoholic who beats her, she's almost failing school and spends every minute trying to protect her 2 year old brother."

Wally froze, "Her dad…. Roger Donnell…. He…. He _beat_ her? He loved her and Aaron more than anything." The Flash started tearing up, "Bruce, Di, I'm so sorry."

"It wasn't your fault Wally?" Diana said on semi-automatic.

Linda was also in shock, "Jay never said anything…"

"Keep reading," Superman urged, "she gets out of there."

Diana turned to him, latching onto hope, "Really?"

"You know this how?" Bruce was more cynical.

Clark pushed his glasses farther up his nose, "Superman's met the Donnell's too."


	7. Letter 7: Blame

Dear Other Dad and Mom,

They took him. They took him away. They took them both away, but Aaron didn't deserve to go. And it's all his fault, that self-righteous, interfering, pernicious, atrocious, cheesy alien so called hero. Superman. He just had to stick his nose in where it didn't belong. Fine yes Dad was mad, but I could have handled it. I've been handling it just fine for over a year now. He was just cruising along over the city, apparently using his x-ray vision or superhearing to spy on everyday people, when he decided to intervene in our lives.

It's was the anniversary of Mom's death. Dad found out that I wasn't graduating at the top of my class. I don't know why but despite everything he's still fixated on my grades, which sucks because they're awful right now; I'm only hitting a low 80 average. He blew up; to be fair he'd just finished drinking more then I'd ever seen so it's not entirely his fault. And I couldn't get Aaron to stop crying, he's normally so good.

I was in the bathroom taking a shower when I heard Dad start shouting. I hurried to get to Aaron before anything could happen, I didn't even dry off I just threw on my sweater and trackpants and ran. I didn't make it in time. Dad was already in Aaron's bedroom, I don't think that Dad's been in his bedroom for months. He was drunk with a broken beer bottle still in his hand. Aaron had stopped crying and was trying to hide in the corner. There was blood. I got so mad. There is never ever an excuse to hurt Aaron.

Dad took another swing with the bottle but I got in the way this time. I didn't care about my blood, I got mad. No-one hurts Aaron while I'm around; it's my job to protect him, that what Mom would want Dad or no Dad. I couldn't control my temper any longer; I attacked him back. That was stupid, Dad's still pretty strong. I jumped on him and got a pretty good kick at his nuts, just like Mom had taught me. He threw me against the wall, it broke my arm. I went at him with one of the bottle shard, just like he did to me sometimes. Aaron was screaming. I slashed a huge cut right across Dad's stomach. There was a lot of blood, I dropped the glass and grabbed Aaron to make a run for it. Dad grabbed me again.

Then Superman came barrelling in. He pulled Dad off of me and took us to the hospital. That would have been one thing but then the cops got involved. Long story short, they told me that Dad's going to jail, that I won't have to see him again and that he has lost custody of us. I just nodded, they'd doped me up on some kind of drug to stitch me up but I wouldn't leave Aaron so they had to do it beside his hospital crib. I don't think that I could live with Dad ever again, he hurt Aaron. In fact I don't think he's even my dad anymore, he's just some guy who use to be my dad. I hate him for hurting Aaron.

But I hate Superman more because of what happened next. They took Aaron away from me. We stayed for a week in the hospital while Roger was convicted and then officially became 'wards of the state' because Mom and don't have any family left. The service worker came to talk to me, she said that they'd found a nice home for Aaron to be adopted into. She said that they were nice people who had been waiting a long time to save a nice little boy from a situation just like this. That's when I got scared, I said that Aaron wasn't going anywhere without me. I begged her to keep us together. But she didn't care, she said that they can't even keep genetic siblings together never mind adopted siblings, plus these people didn't want a girl. She said that she was really sorry but that doesn't make a difference.

She took Aaron away. I started screaming and trying to stop her, Mom would never want us split up because I have to look after Aaron. A couple of the police officers held me back, that was two days ago. I haven't seen Aaron since and no-one will tell me where he is. They said that they can't tell me because I'm a 'risk' child. Another social worker came and made me sit down; she wasn't nice like the other one. She said that I had almost killed Roger and that I should get a record but due to the circumstances they were willing to cut me a deal. I didn't have a choice. I've got a guard watching me and I've been placed on 'suicide watch'.

I have to spend the summer at a 'camp' for 'troubled kids', it's basically kid jail but the 'deal' is that if I show 'improvement' I only have to stay for the summer and I won't get a permanent record. After the summer I'll be put in a 'home' to start high school. If after I successfully complete a year of school and the camp with no 'issues' they'll tell me where Aaron is and let me visit him. I heard them talking, they think that if they tell me now I'll take him and run off. They're right. Maybe about everything, I wanted to kill Roger. I'm glad I didn't but I would have. And I do want to take Aaron and run but I'll play their game for now. But I'll always remember, I know who to blame, Flash for killing Mom, Dad for hurting Aaron instead of me and Superman for splitting us all up. They will be held accountable and I'll get my brother back.

Sarah

* * *

Superman's face was ashen.

All in the room were torn. They were all glad that Sarah was no longer stuck taking care of her brother and living with her father, but they couldn't help but feel awful for tearing her world apart and separating her from her brother.

Superman asked the question of Batman, "Did I do the right thing?"

Bruce met his eyes, "As a father, yes but if I was her I would never forgive you."

"You don't forgive anyone," Wally cracked a small smile, trying to instill some levity into the room.

Linda laid a hand over Wally's indicating that perhaps this wasn't the time, "I'm sure Sarah finds Aaron again, it's only a year."

"She almost killed him," Diana wasn't focused, "there may be more Amazon in her then I'd hoped. All that rage. The hidden despair. The hate. The focus." She buried her head in her hands, "we just wanted to keep her safe." The usual stoic Wonder Woman appeared broken, no longer a hero, a warrior or a princess, just a guilty mother. "What will she do when she finds out who Bruce and I are, that we're the superheroes she's coming to hate?"

"She'll accept you Diana," Lois said, "it'll be hard. But tell her the whole story, why you sent her away, she'll come to understand. She can talk to the other kids, hear their stories and she'll have Jay to take her around, a familiar face."

Linda jumped in it, "Wally can grab him, he can tell you everything you need to know."

"But what does she do when she finds out that Jay is Flash's son?" Diana's eyes were deep, "that he himself has the same powers?" That gave them pause.

Batman stood up, "we don't need Jay, not yet. Flash go downstairs and grab Shayara and John, J'onn too while you're at it. He might as well be here."

He nodded, eager to please, "I think they're training with the JLJ, be right back."

"Why not Jay?" Superman asked.

Batman was pacing and typically unresponsive, "Because I need to speak to John and Shayara first."


	8. Letter 8: Scale

Dear Other Parents,

It's been four months since I've seen Aaron, only 8 more to go. I'm the picture perfect child. I didn't get into any fights at the 'correctional facility' and since the start of school I have near perfect grades. I'm playing the game their way. They want to see troubled kids reform because it looks good on their record. Initially I was torn between acting up to screw them over or just acting perfect and getting them off my back. Aaron of course was the deciding factor; I need to get him back.

There's been an interesting side effect as a result. You can act good without being good, and more doors open when you play the game with this split personality attitude. I have two goals, get Aaron back and hold everyone accountable for what they did to us. To get Aaron back I need the perfect face, the accountability requires a more nefarious attitude. They may put kids into 'correctional facilities' to correct them but I've never been in a better place to gain the knowledge that I need. A couple of the guys there hooked me up with the big name gang in New York, did I mention that my new 'home' is in New York? I'm learning how the streets work in way most people could never imagine. Yeah, I've got to do some stuff that morally shady but the ends will justify the means.

I don't know who you guys are but you must be ridiculously attractive because I've gone from a scrawny little nothing to, and I quote "seriously hot". Thanks for that, it's opened up doors. I'm building an image, hot, smart, and involved in everything, someone who the world opens up for. It was easy, ditch the glasses, buy new clothes and don't ever stop smiling. The gang scene is different. It requires a different face. That girl can't be anything that school Sarah is because people need to respect her even be afraid of her. I'm a hardass and quite frankly I love every second of it. It's the best of both worlds.

Originally I was going to drop the nice girl cover once I got Aaron back but it has its uses. Plus with the contacts I've garnered in my more shady activities I think I can track down Aaron without the agency. Then it's simple, grab him and go. I know enough people now that we could disappear into this city, the cops would never find us.

I've talked to Jay a couple of times. They're letting him take a test to see if he can rejoin his actual class year and apparently I'm the smartest person he knows so I'm tutoring him. The 'home' doesn't have webchat though so we can only do it over the phone. He mentioned coming up once but I said that would take too long and not to trouble himself. He just laughed and said it wouldn't be a problem. I still refused; I honestly don't know if I could face seeing Jay as this Sarah.

They asked me if I wanted to visit Roger. I asked them why in the world I would want to do that. They said because he'd asked to see. I reminded them that all of his parental rights had been waived, and that he was a child abusing, depressive, drunk, psychopath who tried to kill me and my brother. They said something about closure. I just sat there and took it. They don't understand. They don't know what closure really means. Closure is justice, a balancing of the scales. My scale is loaded down, I'm just returning the favour.

Sarah

* * *

Batman was up and pacing now, waiting for the three remaining founders to join them and periodically checking various computers to ensure that they still weren't being filmed or recorded.

Wally's voice preceded them as he detailed what they had learned so far. He spoke fast and his voice was small as he quickly explained his and Superman's role in the young girl's life. He entered the room Shayara, John and J'onn not far behind him.

Shayara immediately swooped over to Diana, gave her a hug then grabbed the already opened letters and started reading furiously. John and J'onn said nothing, seeming content to listen to Wally's narration and knowing that there weren't any words they could say anyway.

Wally fell silent just before Shayara finished. She looked up, folded the latest letter back into its envelope and met Batman's eyes. He was waiting for her expectantly.

"It's not impossible," she said at last, "but I never heard anything close to this version either."

"Did you ever look?" he asked.

She shook her head and placed the envelopes back on the table, "It was all done through the agency. We didn't want any strings pulled because we were Justice League."

"Hear of a sister?" he pressed.

Shayara paused, "Only once, at the very beginning. We were told that family may want to get into contact."

John interrupted his wife, "We were told what? What are you two talking about?"

"Bruce here thinks that our Aaron might be this Aaron," she held up the letters. The room gaped.

Diana responded first, "Bruce," she said gently, "don't you think that's a bit of a stretch? Just because they're both adopted and have the same name…"

His face was expressionless, "We're Waynes, fate does cruel things to us." He said simply, Diana couldn't dispute.

Clark had already risen from his seat and was drawing something on a nearby whiteboard. Upon stepping back they could see that it was a list of everything the letters had detailed on Aaron Donnell; beside them was a column simply titled Aaron Steward. It had two checkmarks, one beside the name 'Aaron' and another beside 'adopted', "What else?" he asked.

"How old was Aaron when you got him?" Lois asked, the only one looking detached from the situation.

Shayara looked puzzled but John knew the answer, "Three, he was three." It matched the board.

Diana didn't meet Shayara's eyes, "And this bit about Aaron's new family not wanting a daughter?"

"After what happened to Kira," Shayara's voice was heavy, "we didn't want anyone to feel like a replacement." Diana nodded once and looked up, that story was never far from their minds.

J'onn finally joined the conversation, "And his parents?" Both heroes flinched slightly at the term, "birth parents," J'onn amended.

"We were only told that all parental rights had been terminated and that the father presented a potential risk." John smirked slightly, "naturally we weren't particularly concerned."

"Did anything come with him?" Batman pressed, "Something from his childhood. A blanket, photos, a toy?"

Shayara nodded, "a fuzzy teddy bear. But I assumed the agency had given it to him, it was pretty beat up."

Superman looked at the board he'd been writing on, "So we can't prove he is and we can't prove that he isn't."

"He can't be," Wally spoke up, "All Sarah's talked about so far is getting her brother back. Unless BL is an android she never took him anywhere. And even if she didn't take him, you'd think she'd at least want to visit."

Diana picked up the next letter


	9. Letter 9: It

Dear Genetic Donors,

I found him. It took two months longer then I'd hoped but I found him without one ounce of help from 'the system'. I knew a couple of guys who needed some new IDs, I knew where to get some. In exchange they did whatever it is they did to get the information I needed. I didn't ask, you never ask. Just like they didn't ask what I did to get the IDs, I don't even like to think about that. That guy is a total scuzzball, he makes my skin crawl. But we do what we have to do. That's life.

They got me an address. I had it all worked out. I've indentured myself to this way of life for years as a result but I was ready to go. I had an apartment, new identities, new lives. We could slip away where they'd never be able to separate us again. I was going to drop out of school. I'd laid a false trail. I had a new disguise ready, a fake background that made me eighteen and capable of doing things legally on my own. All I had to do was get Aaron back.

I went to scope out the house first. I hopped on a bus and headed out. I skipped a week of school but the office thinks I've come down with food poisoning. The home thinks I'm visiting Jay, they're idiots. I needed to know these people's patterns so that I'd know when to strike. I broke into the house across the street and lived in the neighbour's attic, they never knew. The name had been familiar but I hadn't put it together until the first time that I saw them. The man glowed. Then it clicked, Aaron Stewart, John Stewart, Green Lantern. My brother had been adopted by someone who was most likely the good friend of someone who'd killed our mother. Then it got worse. His 'mother' was Hawkgirl, my brother was being raised by two _ superheroes._ The very people whom I was out to get.

I'd never been more glad that I was going to get him out there. I watched them for a week, the initial plan had called for me to grab him on Saturday. That was the flaw in my plan, I watched them for a week. They were actually good parents. They were the family that I thought we should have been for Aaron. There was even a replacement for me, no more than a few years older than I was. Two days in I caught his name, Rex. He was a good brother despite the age gap. He always stopped to help Aaron, they laughed together, played catch. I even saw him teaching Aaron how to spit properly. All things that I'd wanted to do. I felt bad for Rex despite myself. He had half wings. I don't know about alien physiology but even I could tell that his wings were underdeveloped. The main bone was there but almost no support feathers and yet when he saw Aaron his face would light up. He called him 'little dude' and Aaron would giggle.

I watched the family go out to dinner together. Despite being heroes somehow Hawkgirl and Green Lantern always managed to be around for their kids. Hawkgirl sang Aaron songs before he went to bed in English and Thanagarian. I watched Green Lantern read him stories. He had a room all to himself. I was hesitant but he was still my brother, I was going to get him back. He still slept with the teddy bear I'd given him when he was born; at least the support worker had managed to not screw that up. Friday night something happened. It was maybe one in the morning. Aaron started screaming, Lantern and Hawkgirl and Rex were in his room in seconds, comforting him and he bawled into Hawkgirl's arms. I'd bugged the room on Tuesday and I'd heard what he cried. He cried about blood and glass and hurting. He cried for someone to save him from the bad man.

He slept in their bed that night. I left, my plan discarded. They were good parents, better parents than I'd ever be, than I ever could be. He was right to scream. I'd failed him. I'd let him get hurt. I didn't deserve to be his sister. I reached a decision. I was never going to see him. The caseworker would offer to let me visit and I'd turn her down. I'd ask that he'd never hear of me. He deserved to forget, to let those dreams vanish into his new life. But I'd be watching. They'd never see me but I'd keep coming back. As long as they were good parents, a good family and took care of him I would never interfere with them as a family. But if they ever went the way of Roger there would be hell to pay.

I said I wouldn't attack them as a family. I'll leave them as John, Shayara, Rex and Aaron Stewart but I never said anything about heroes. About Hawkgirl, Green Lantern, they belong with Flash and Superman. They still took my brother. They still didn't want me. I won't hurt them for Aaron's sake but they need to be held accountable. I need them to be held accountable. That's all I have left.

Sarah

* * *

"So are they coming back or what?" Jay took a break from the punching bag, "Cause I've kind of got plans this afternoon."

Rex Stewart raised an eyebrow, "You've got plans? You never have plans." His momentary lack of focus resulted in his sparring partner sending him soaring into a nearby wall.

Iris looked up from where she was painting her nails, "Unless plans means playing video games." She agreed with her boyfriend, wincing as he picked himself up from the floor.

Jay looked indignant, "I do things beside video games. Jack back me up here"

"He's right." Jay's face light up at Jack's words, "He's been sneaking off to who knows where five times in last two months." Jack Drake dusted off his Robin costume and extended a hand to help haul Rex up, "and to answer your initial question, no I don't think they're coming back anytime soon. So where do you go?"

"Sweden for chocolate," Jay said quickly.

"False," the male voice boomed from John Kent, "your heart rate just increased to lying level. Come on, where are you going?"

"None of your business," Jay protested wondering if there was some way he could hijack the teleporters and get him out of the Watchtower Training Room.

An arrow thunked between his feet, Oliva Queen already had another one notched and a grin on her face, "You don't think we can get it out of you?"

"Nope," Jay returned the grin, "I'm the ultimate secret keeper." Smirks abounded about the room; Jay was notorious for his loose lips.

"Pshaw we came take them," the youngest in the room by 7 years Aaron Stewart had always been surprisingly brazen. He sidled up beside Jay, the blue ring on his finger glowing slightly.

Rex pretended to look offended, "You'd side against your own brother."

Aaron winked, "You drank all the good juice this morning. The only thing left was Mom's weird alien 'juice'." He shuddered, "I've suffered enough today for everyone."

Eyes glinted. No-one was actually angry but a quick tussle was significantly more fun than any training session. This was a rare opportunity; there was usually one parent or another looking over their shoulders.

"Five minutes, we pin you we win." Ever rule oriented John Kent laid out guidelines. There were nods all around as people pulled on necessary costume pieces. A mace found its way to Warhawk's hands. Robin double checked his belt, Speedy her arrows. A quick flash and Blue Lantern was in costume. Whirls of wind signifying FazeFlash, Flashbomb and Superboy were changing.

They got about a minute in before a voice rang out, "WHAT do you think you're doing?" A starbolt blasted in the middle of the room forcing them apart. Mar'i Grayson hovered above them, arms crossed, "Where are Aunt Shayara, Uncle John and Uncle J'onn?"

Robin wiggled his way out of a giant blue fist, "Uncle Wally came to get them. Care to join? Everyone on Bomb and Blue."

Nightstar's face betrayed her, she obviously wanted to join but she refrained, "Guys, seriously we should be training." Their faces vehemently disagreed so she played the necessary card, "Don't make me sick Uncle Bruce on you."

Grumbling they disengaged and lounged on the training equipment, "Why'd you have to go and pull the Uncle Bruce card?" Aaron complained, "I was winning."

Rex ruffled his hair, "Because someone here has to be responsible little man and as the oldest member of the JLJ by 13 months Mar'i got drafted into the role of 'mom'."

"Stupid birth order," she shook her head, "aren't Robins usually the ones in charge?"

Jack grinned wickedly, "You're doing just fine. Don't try and pin that responsibility on me too. Tactical responsibility is more than enough." He inclined his head thoughtfully, "we could trade."

"Nope," the word flew out of her mouth, no-one planned quite like Jack Drake.

He grinned back at her, "How's Apollo?"

"So cute," the 24 year old half-Tamaraian gushed, "he's so excited to start school. That's all he talks about when I swing by. Donna took him shopping and bought him his first backpack and now they can't get him to take it off." She smiled at the mental image, "It doesn't help that Dad started teaching him 'Grayson Acrobatics' so he's swinging off the ceiling fan. If Donna and I couldn't fly it would have taken forever to grab him."

"You're so lucky to have a little brother," Oliva said wistfully. John nodded in agreement.

Jack showed his detail oriented side, "Half-brother."

Rex rolled his eyes, "like blood makes a difference." Aaron high-fived him.

Mar'i shrugged, "I love him just the way he is. Donna is awesome and I'm mostly just glad that Dad is happy again, after Mom died I thought I'd never see him smile."

They grew silent; death was something that they were unfortunately familiar with.

"How many years has it been now?" Iris asked quietly.

Mar'i answered quickly, "Nine."

Iris shook her head slightly, blonde curls swinging, "No, since _it_."

They started slightly, they usually avoided talking about it.

"Twenty-one years," Olivia answered at last, "same year I was born." Mar'i started.

Rex looked at the floor, talking about it was always hardest for him. Aaron scooted close and put a skinny arm around his big brother.

"I can't even remember her," Rex admitted slowly, "I can't remember anything about her, about my own twin. What kind of brother does that make me? My twin dies and I just forget her."

Aaron's eyes narrowed, "Oh no you don't big bro. You were two. You're not expected to remember things at two. You are not going down this trail again, it took you months last time. I may not have been alive but I know enough to know that we shouldn't be dragging this upwards."

Rex inhaled sharply and nodded looking up. Jay jerked his hand away from his head where he had been reflexively rubbing the large scar and let the shaggy hair cover it again.

"Twenty-one years," Mar'i was oddly sharp, "we're sure?"

"Uh yeah," Olivia said, "I can get you a copy of my birth certificate to be sure."

Jack confirmed, "Twenty-one years exactly, today is the anniversary actually. Probably why the adults are awall." His eyes narrowed, "Why? What's so significant about twenty-one years."

"Nothing." She said.

John piped up again, "Lying." He quirked an eyebrow, "that's going around today. Do we have to beat it out of you too?"

In her nervousness Nightstar began floating, "I shouldn't tell you."

"Tell us anyway." Iris loved gossip, "Come on I thought we had the whole team thing finally working well. No secrets, trust, all that jazz." Her eyes got crafty, "you wouldn't want to 'foster an atmosphere of secrecy and mistrust' would you?"

Mar'i closed then opened her eyes, "Remember when the league went off on that suicide mission?"

"Don't see how it relates but sure." Jay said, "they got all serious on us. Big goodbyes, last instructions," his eyes grew wide, "they told you something didn't they."

She nodded, "If they didn't come back they wanted to make sure that someone knew."

The team grew silent, curious.

"Remember the story they told us about it? They searched for days but all the villains were running interference. And when they finally got a positive hit there was no-one on the Watchtower to receive it because they were all out searching and Lex had blocked communications?"

"Yeah yeah," Olivia never had been patient, "Wonder Woman was the only one on the Watchtower because the League wouldn't let an eight month pregnant Amazon off the Watchtower."

"Right," Mar'i agreed, "and when she couldn't raise the League she left a message and went after us herself."

"It was too late anyway," Rex butted in softly, "Kira was already…"

Iris wrapped an arm around him as Mar'i continued, "Right. She came in, they captured her, Joker switched from torturing us to torturing her, probably saving Jay's life. The League got the message, followed her communicator and busted up the place."

Jack took over, "But the Joker was determined to hurt Batman so he stabbed the baby and Wonder Woman miscarried, can't have anymore kids. You all spent months in therapy. Jay's got a scar. I was born. It revamped the whole League." He paused for an additions then continued, "so where are you going with this?"

"The baby's alive." Mar'i said simply, "Aunt Diana did miscarry and the baby did die. But the gods cut a deal and brought the baby back to life. I don't know the details but as part of the deal the little girl wasn't allowed to grow up with them or even know who they are. Twenty-one years was the deadline for when they could contact her."

They stared at her for one minute. Two minutes. Three.

John tried, "You mean somewhere in the world there's some kid who's the daughter of BATMAN and WONDER WOMAN and doesn't even know it?" He shook his head, "Well, she's in for a surprise."

"Kid got a name?" Jack was already at the computer waiting to run a scan.

Mar'i shrugged, "she was born Sarah Wayne."

**Apologies on the late update. You know how life gets. Plus it seemed like a good idea when I started to write two fics at once... Slightly regretting that now. C'est la vie. I'm glad you're all enjoying.**


	10. Letter 10: New

Dear Genetic Donors,

I found Patches. It's a miracle he's still alive but when I went back to the old house there he was, sleeping behind the shed. It was like he was waiting for me. I've taken him with me back to New York, the 'home' will have to deal with it; Patches is now all I've got. Somehow despite everything he still loves me. Licked my face when I woke him up and looked at me with those big brown eyes, he forgave me. I was at the house for final inspection, I'm selling it. Technically the proceeds get split, a third to me, a third to Aaron Stewart and a third to Roger in jail. Whatever, I just want to be rid of the thing, rid of that life.

I'm changing my last name too. The last thing I want to be is a Donnell, it was never Mom's name. It was Roger's. I want to get this all done with before I turn 16. Anything before that age can be locked in a file, never to be accessed again. Of course I intend to get in and destroy the file once the changes are made, but it's still more secure to do so before my birthday next week. The paperwork's pretty much done anyway. I'll be rid of the Donnell name and all the crap that comes with it. Everything will change at 16; I'll be my own person. I'll have more freedom. I intend to make use of it.

You know what the Justice League has trotted out now? The JLJ (Justice League Junior), these kids can't be any older than I am but they're supposed to become heroes. I could handle that, fine. It's retarded but it's their lives, if they want to blindly follow the League whatever. My problem is that these are all obviously the League's actual children/relatives. I didn't see one person in the line-up who wasn't the light version of an already established hero. Nightstar is apparently the leader, she's Starfire's daughter. The papers ran a whole series of articles on her when her mom died. Superboy is a mini Superman. There are two Kid Flashes, only they call them FazeFlash and Flashbomb. Speedy is basically a female Green Arrow, Hunter looks like the vigilante Huntress. Robin's so young he looks like he's in a Halloween costume. Then there's Warhawk –Rex Stewart, Aaron's big brother. Someone fixed his wings up; they're made of metal now. My point is what about kids weren't bred to do this? Why do these kids get to play god? Only because of their genetics, that's not a good enough reason. They'll be just like the League – picking and choosing lives to save, accountable to no-one but themselves, seen as gods who can do no wrong.

I aim to change that. I aim to expose them for what they really are, not gods just men and women given more power than they know what to do with. Can you imagine if average people got to together, beat up some bad guys and went home after destroying a city with their battle? It would be chaos, they'd go to jail, pay for their damage. But give these people a superpower and it's all hunky dory. So I'll fix it. I'm going to fire from multiple angles at once. I'm going to need training. The gangs have been a good start, I'm an excellent street fighter and very very good with a knife but it won't be enough. I'll need money too, and power. Probably some tech too, even the great human Batman has gadgets to become one of the gods. I'll need a cover, I can't just disappear. I'd tell you my plans but I don't know what kind of people you are, I don't trust you.

Sarah

* * *

"They didn't tell you anything besides Sarah Wayne?" Robin's fingers flew across the keyboard, "Sarah Wayne doesn't exist, she doesn't even have a birth certificate."

Nightstar was right beside him, "They were leaving on a suicide mission Jack, there wasn't exactly time for questions." She swatted his hand away when he moved over to her monitor area, "I've got it, deal with your own section."

He moved over to Olivia's screen who screeched, "You heard her, handle your own section!"

Jack back away but couldn't resist saying, "Well, you're doing it wrong. You want to mix before you age."

Olivia glared at him and looked back at her code, "There is nothing wrong…" Then she swore and her fingers flew across the keyboard, "I hate it when you're right."

"I don't," Jay called over, "Jack being right usually saves our butts."

"Ah shaddup," Olivia said grouchily, leaning back against the seat as the program restarted.

John Kent was still in a state of shock, "She's just, she's, she's just walking around. Never knowing, thinking that she's just some orphan. When really she's hit the genetic lottery and has some of the world's best parents."

"She could have a good home," Aaron pointed out, "Be adopted never hurt me much. She could have a great family, friends and life. Maybe she doesn't want to be bothered. I know I wouldn't want my past jumping up all of a sudden."

"Yeah but wasn't your Dad the bad guy?" Iris said.

"Not Dad," Aaron said firmly, "but yes, he was." Aaron dug into his pocket and pulled out a crinkled, torn photo, "someone ripped him right out of this picture." He ran his fingers across it, "the only one I've got."

Rex peered over his brother's shoulder, "I don't suppose you ever got around to asking Uncle Bruce if he could figure out who that extra hand belongs to?"

"No," Aaron stared at the photo.

Iris leaned over her boyfriend's shoulder, "what extra hand?"

"See here," Aaron pointed to a chubby younger him. "I'm sitting on my first mom's lap, you can obviously see a man's hand here." He pointed to his first mom's shoulder, "but there's a smaller hand here," there was a slender hand resting on the mom's knee right next to Aaron, "I must have had another sibling or something…" Aaron trailed off.

Iris examined the picture closer, "So why didn't you ask him? Uncle Bruce can do anything."

"Because I didn't want to know," Aaron said softly, "what kind of sibling just leaves their brother alone? I asked Mom and Dad once; they said they'd never heard of a sibling. I'm happy with the life I have. "

"Me too little bro," Rex tousled his brother's hair and without turning said, "Jay's trying to sneak out the door."

The speedster froze as all eyes locked on him.

Iris had a soft sparkle in her eyes. Jay looked back at her begging but she smirked and asked, "Where are you going Jay?"

"Out." He said gauging his speed against his sister's versus distance to the teleporter.

Olivia rolled her eyes, "Not this again, Jay what could possibly be more interesting than a Batkid?"

Jack spun in his chair an evil look on his face and a maniacal grin, "I'm interested in why he's not interested. Let's examine this shall we?"

Desperate to cut him off Jay said the first thing that can to his head, "Are we sure she even exists?"

Mar'i raised an eyebrow, "And why wouldn't she exist?"

"Well you'd think," Jay shrugged, "That we would have noticed a super-strong, flying half-Amazon wandering around."

"That," Jack said after a pause, "is actually a good point."

"You should have thought of it," the deep male voice cut through the room causing its younger occupants to wince. The adults filed into the room, Batman headed straight for the computers examining Jack's work, "What did you miss?" he growled.

"The hidden code resending all searches for 'Sarah Wayne' back to you?" Robin guessed. Batman nodded once.

Nightstar was trying not to look guilty in the corner, "So we were just taking a quick break…"

"It's okay Mar'i," Diana said.

The young woman sighed in relief, then stared as wallets came out and everybody started passing money to J'onn, "You bet on how long I could keep it a secret?"

Diana shrugged as she tugged a twenty out of her boot, "If it helps I had my money on you not saying anything."

Wally checked his watch, "I missed it by that much" he squeezed his fingers together, "you couldn't have met up yesterday?"

John Kent was floating, watching in with slight consternation as his parents handed over what appeared to be his allowance, "But back to the more pressing issue…"

Shayara had wandered over to Aaron and given him a tight squeeze, although the action appeared casual the adults knew better. He leaned his head backwards to meet his mom's eyes and asked, "So is there a new WonderGirl?"

Minds fluttered to the old WonderGirl and then returned to the present, "She won't have powers…" Diana said at last leaving it open ended for the JLJ to fill in.

"Because your powers are tied to your soul and not DNA?" Superboy gave it a spin.

Diana nodded absently, running her fingers over the envelopes still clutched in her fist "The 'powers' are a gift from the gods, when I was born the gods descended and gave me my gifts in a ceremony. Cassie had a similar situation, albeit when she was older. Donna did not as her soul contains a piece of my own and the powers came with it. If Sarah," Diana said the name softly, "did have any sort of metapower there would have been a ceremony and I would have been obligated to attend."

"Ok, Batgirl then," Olivia said, "we could definitely use another girl on this team, even it out a little."

Iris laughed, "You just want a replacement so that you can spend more time with Hunter."

"No," Speedy blushed furiously, "I mean I want to see him but if that was all I wanted heck I'd ask Count to sub in for me." There were looks of dislike at the thought.

Jack narrowed his eyes, "Are those letters?" There was a nod, "from her?" Another nod, "so you have an address or at least a face?" He looked at Batman "surely you caught the drop off on camera."

"I did," was all Batman said.

Olivia threw her hands in the air, "So why am I bothering with this? Facial aging and recognition is a waste of time if you've got the face."

Batman was silent so Superman spoke up, "There was nothing on the recording."

"What?" Superboy asked for clarification.

Wally waved his hands around excitedly, "The letters just appear, one second they're there, the next there not. Even I couldn't see anything on the tape and my eyes can move pretty fast." He smiled broadly, "The kid's apparently got a few tricks of her own. You should see these letters, she's just like Bats and Di, full of plans." Then he paused as he remember the more tragic events of the letters, his eyes bounced to Jay, then Aaron, then back to Jay.

John cut him off before he could say more, "We'll take it over from here guys, get back to your training."

"No way!" Iris was so thrilled at the idea of gossip that she was phasing in and out of the visible spectrum, "We need the details. Mar'i only knew the barest details and I need the details."

Suddenly the room was filled with flashing red lights and a head splitting foghorn, a high priority alert. Images automatically overrode the screens, Metropolis came on the screens. They told a varied story, civilians were lying in the street some trying to crawl to safety while others appeared too sick to even move. Many were covered in oozing pustules, others were throwing up, other clawed at their own skin while some appeared unconscious. Those that appeared healthy were beating any living thing they could get their hands on. Littered between the bodies was one of the strangest armies the League had seen, a variety of reptiles similar to Killer Croc, a handful of Annihilators, inanimate objects were turning into poisonous snakes, a couple bears, a variety of 'guns for hire', and ancient warriors risen from the grave.

It gave even the League pause due to the sheer absurdity. However Diana moved the moment a large figure appeared on screen, the entire charge was apparently led by Hercules. She had a hand to her ear and was issuing a command for all League member of any status to prepare for teleportation to Metropolis immediately.

Jay was texting furiously into his phone.

Wally said, "Stay here ladies."

Superman barely had time to add, "Don't touch anything Lois," before all heroes on the tower, both JLU and JLJ disappeared down to Metropolis.


	11. Letter 11: Count

Dear Genetic Donors,

I'm leaving. I can't do this. I'm going to take the test and graduate early and get out of here before I forget what I'm doing. This just became my senior year. They'll object of course because I'm only sixteen and I'll have to remind them that age isn't a technical requirement for graduation, all you need is the intellect. Age is more of a 'best practice' and it's not like I'm going to have trouble with the test. I just need to go.

It started off innocently enough, Jay phoned me up out of the blue and asked if I'd be his prom date. Just as friends of course, apparently his girlfriend just dumped him, the dance was in a week and he couldn't bear to go alone. We email sometimes so it's not like we never talk and on a whim I said yes, that's the kind of person I have to be at school now and it bled over. I didn't think it through until I'd committed - he was expecting Sarah Donnell. I hadn't been her in years. I hadn't wanted to be. But it was too late to back out, I just, I just couldn't bring myself to disappoint Jay. He's been miles away yes, but at this point he's kept in contact longest. I haven't seen him face to face in years, how sad is that? And his girlfriend dumped him a week before prom, I mean come on that's harsh, any decent person wouldn't back out on him too. And I can still be a decent person sometimes. I don't know, I guess I told myself it would all be okay. Wrong-o… see right there. I said wrong-o, I don't say wrong-o. That's exactly why I've got to go.

I actually got permission from the 'home', hopped on a train and headed over. Jay said he'd come pick me up which I guess was sort of sweet but I shot him down, it's impractical for him to waste time like that. Jay met me at the station, it took me a minute to pick him out of the crowd. He's got that same shaggy mop of red hair but beside that he looks pretty different. I guess I do to; he didn't seem to pick me out either but six years will do a lot. I've lost the glasses and well 'filled-out' I guess. Jay looks 18 now; he's taller than I am, actually has a little muscle and although I will never say so again, is just a little handsome. I wove through the crowd and punched him the arm, his surprise was totally worth the trip. And he went from weird semi-hot Jay to just plain old Jay in a second, wrapping me a hug and telling me a joke to make me laugh. We just hung out for the afternoon, grabbed some ice cream, played at the park like we were 8 again, and Jay took me to some lame old car museum that he was really excited about. It was fun in an old school sort of way, Jay was still Jay and for a second I thought that maybe I could still be me.

We went back to his place and I got ready for the 'prom' in the spare bedroom. I don't get nervous but if I did that would have been the moment. Mrs West was still really nice, she gave me one of those suffocating mom hugs that I hadn't gotten in years the second I walked through the door. Then told me 'how grown up I looked' and that 'she couldn't believe I was the same little Sarah'. I didn't have the heart to tell her that I wasn't, not really. I flipped into this bright blue dress that I'd bought the last time my 'friends' had dragged me out to the mall. It was the kind of dress that 8 year old Sarah would have loved, Mrs West came in from where she'd been helping Iris and did my hair up in this half bun thing. I don't know how she did it but I'm thankful, I'm awful with hair. She lent me one of Iris's necklaces and then dragged me out of the room. I laughed as soon as I saw Jay, he was in a suit. I'd never seen him in a suit and the whole idea was just so ridiculous that I couldn't help it. He had shiny shoes and a black tie, he'd even brushed his hair back properly. He pretended to look offended at my laughter but I know he didn't care. Iris and her date were there too, some guy named John – black hair, brown eyes, broad shoulders, big round glasses that didn't really fit his appearance. They both looked classy; Iris had gone for the little black dress. The four of us headed out the door with Mrs. West laughing and taking photos and making us do those cliché poses that are secretly kind of fun. Mr. West apparently had to work, I was okay with that.

It was fun in a corny sort a way. A bunch of us went out for dinner at some fancy joint, Jay insisted on paying which was flattering. I mean I saw Mrs West give him the fifty, but still. Then we went to the dance which was full of low lighting and looked flat out of some cheesy high school romance movie. We posed for those corny photos and hit the dance floor. I will say this, I can dance. I've always had a very intuitive way of knowing where and how to move, practically it comes in handy in fights but it also means that there's no-one better on the dance floor. Jay was pretty good too, he tripped a few times but he's always game and seems to move fast enough to keep up. There were a couple slow songs which could have been awkward but Jay just laughed got down on one knee and asked me to dance in a manner akin to knights of old. He's always keeping me laughing. I just mussed his hair out of that perfectly gelled coif and let him glide me around the dance floor. Iris of course was Prom Queen, some things never change. We finished out the night then Jay got on the train with me to 'keep me safe on my way home'. I wanted to laugh at him; it takes a lot to make me not safe. I've got a mean uppercut. Still it was sweet, we chatted until we reached my station. I gathered up my stuff and then Jay stood up and grabbed my arm. There was this one moment when I thought that he was going to kiss me, but then he paused and just pulled me in a hug. Then the night was over and I was back at the 'home'.

See that's the problem right there. I can't be having a good time, he made me forget everything. The Flash, Rodger, Aaron, Superman, my Mom, my anger, what my last name was, who I was trying to be, Jay made me forget it all. I even kind of wanted him to kiss me. I can't have that. I need to focus. They need to be taught a lesson and I can't forget that I need to do that. I can't see Jay again. I can't have this kind of life. I just can't. I'm going to disappear again, check in on Aaron as always and then peace out. Go somewhere where I can figure things out. Somewhere where I remember, where life makes sense, where I forget those moments when I feel like a Princess.

Sarah

* * *

"If I could go and paint the sky or merely change it to suit my eye, I'd make sure the sun and moon could fly, to finally take their place side by side instead of being trapped in eternal goodbye." The JLJ communicator was never silent as Iris felt the need to sing whenever she hit high speeds claiming the beat helped keep her focused. This week's melody had primarily been from the pop band 'Pauper or Princess', still Robin wasn't about to complain. FazeFlash did her job properly and efficiently, he'd allow a quirk or two.

He'd put her on vaccines so he_ really_ couldn't complain, Iris hated pus, guts and puke but had gone anyway. About half an hour ago Mister Terrific had come up with a compound to reverse whatever disease was hitting the larger half of Metropolis; Iris was zipping around and injecting it into everyone she could find. It was conducive to her powers, for reasons still unknown when she reached higher speeds she couldn't help but go intangible. Walls mattered little to FazeFlash, she could go anywhere. Jay on the other hand had a different manifestation at high speeds, he let off explosions. Thus he was on unconscious bodies; FlashBomb couldn't be allowed to hit top speeds. It was bad enough when he hit medium high. Unlike Iris's patients Jay's weren't in need of immediate assistance, Jay could take his time and move at a lower speed.

Speedy and Blue Lantern were on tag and bag. It was simple. They spotted a bear, Speedy tranquilized from a distance and BL scooped it up.

Jack grinned and when he'd caught sight of Superboy, "How's the wrangling going Supes?"

He got a glare in return, "why don't we trade?" Jack shook his head and gestured for John to continue as he turned back to his computer analysis.

"Someone's got to figure out what's going on here." Jack said calmly.

Robin had put Superboy on dealing with the snakes. Despite Superman's farm boy childhood John Kent was more like his mother, a born and bred city slicker. He didn't like snakes. However it was the best bet, even the most venomous snake wasn't a threat if their fangs couldn't break the target's skin. Superboy was attempted to corral them all without touching them.

That left Mar'i and Rex. He'd given them the task of dealing with any 'undesirables' that ventured too close to their sector. The League was dealing with the body of the attack. Upon arrival they'd quickly cleared an area then moved on to deal with the more dangerous Annihilators and the accompanying army. The JLJ was holding a central area where the League was dumping any civilians they found. If anything from the large reptiles to the undead soldiers ventured into their perimeter Nightstar and Warhawk threw them back.

He didn't envy the League, he could hear the crashes from here. They needed aggression to fight the army which just made the Annihilators stronger. But at the same time they couldn't relax to stop the machines and let the army run free. It was a lose lose situation.

Aaron dropped down beside him, "Shouldn't you be with Speedy?" Robin asked as he tried to profile where this attack had come from.

"I thought you'd want a better view." Blue Lantern said. Jack raised an eyebrow under mask wondering what Aaron wanted to show him but couldn't say. He nodded. The blue bubble expanded to include Robin and the two rose up to the top spire. Jack tried to look nonchalant, Aaron had only been given the ring a year and a half ago – he still dropped things sometimes. The two boys landed on about five floors up beside Olivia.

"Check it out," she said, "two floors down on your four."

"Count" he breathed holding in the desire to swear. An appearance from 'The Count' was never a good sign, she only showed up when everything was about to go straight to hell. In fact they rarely saw her until she was dumping some civilian that they'd missed into their laps, the fact that they'd spotted her beforehand… she was antsy. For the first time Robin got a good look at her, a solid pair of boots, cargo pants, black long sleeve top, molded gloves, a mask that wrapped all the way around her head leaving only a pony tail hanging out a hole in the back, her fingers tapping an impatient beat on the concrete as she watched the League. He was surprised to note a small quiver of arrows on her back with a bow. He elbowed Speedy, "how many shots would that hold?"

She appraised, "With a bow? Three maybe four. That few won't do her much good, ever seen her shoot?" He shook his head, "me neither." Speedy continued, "It's the cane that gives me the creeps. I mean come on, The Count has a pretentious cane, I bet she's some rich snob out for a joyride."

She'd called it right. The cane was the interesting part and Jack's fingers itched to examine it. It was black with a simple silver cap on the top but so far he'd seen it shoot blinding light, black powder, a grappling line and projectiles. It also contained at least one knife. He wondered if she'd designed it herself or obtained it elsewhere

Their attention was diverted when Wonder Woman and Hercules crashed into the base of a building just outside the JLJ's boundary. There was clearly the sound of a slugfest inside. In moments the majority of the League and their opponents were fighting in the area, all apparently following the center of the battle. Nightstar made an executive decision from wherever she was watching from, "We're going in."

Although Nightstar was the leader Robin called tactics, "Faze, Bomb, finish up asap and join us at the northeast edge. Everyone else stay tight, stick to formation delta and for Pete's sake nobody and nothing approaches Hercules or the Annihilators. If one comes towards you run, that's an order people. We're not losing anyone today." The team moved out and Robin spared one glance backwards, Count hadn't moved.

* * *

Batman didn't believe in luck, but if he did today would be the day he believed that his was bad. After four hours the League, the reserves and the JLJ had finally contained the attack, the battle was over. Batman stalked through the group knowing that his was just beginning. There was still no why, no reason as to why this had happened and there was only one person capable of telling him, Hercules. Never mind that what he really wanted to do was look for the daughter he was finally allowed to contact, he forced himself to focus. She'd still be around in twenty four hours.

As Batman moved through the crowd he took inventory. No-one had died and he hadn't heard of any life threatening injuries although injuries from bruises to bones abounded. There was just one clump of opponents holding out on the first floor of a building, he was concerned about that. It was one of the buildings that Diana and Hercules had gone barreling through, it couldn't have been structurally sound. Although he was confident J'onn and his team could handle it, Batman altered his course in that direction knowing it never hurt to check.

It was a tall building, at least ten stories, Batman walked up to find J'onn and Superman standing at its base, a team of six heroes with them surrounding the building.

Superman acknowledged Batman, "We're waiting for them to come out on their own, the building looks a little shaky. Plus annihilator, it doesn't make sense to go barging in."

"Is there anyone inside?" Batman asked diligently.

J'onn shook his head, "I sense no life inside but those we are waiting to flush out. However," the Martian paused, "the annihilator has been known to throw off my telepathy."

"Lead paint," Superman added, "but this building was cleared hours ago Batman. I don't think we should send a league member into that building without proof. I mean if J'onn doesn't sense anyone…"

Batman nodded sharply, "It's fine." He turned on his heel and headed off to where his wife had Hercules tied up in her lasso, both looked disheveled and exhausted. Diana was sitting on a piece of rubble her hand loosely holding the rope, Hercules was making no attempt to escape as he sat slumped on the ground beside her. Batman's eyes flashed over her, "Let me pop that shoulder back in."

She looked up, "It's fine, really, I'll just do it myself."

He didn't give her the option; she didn't look fit to pick up a pebble. Moving behind her Batman gave her shoulder a slight twist and hit with the heel of his hand, Diana groaned then sighed, "Thanks."

He nodded and turned to the demi-god huffing on the ground, "Explain." He rumbled.

Hercules looked up, "I owed a debt, my debt has now been paid in full. Although I regret the necessity of my actions Hercules always honors a debt."

Batman looked down at the demi-god, "To whom did you owe the debt."

Hercules winced and said, "To a goddess who has hidden beneath herself." Batman looked to press him further, "I can say no more Man of Bats," Hercules continued, "I gave my word to the goddess, even the lasso of truth cannot pry it from my tongue."

"Why here, why this?" Batman pressed on.

Hercules met the cowled eyes, "I regret to inform you this entire afternoon has been but a distraction, indeed by now it is broaching on too late."

The building collapsed. Its rumbling was almost drowning out by the scrambling of heroes as they tried to minimize the damage, to get their former opponents clear and to keep rubble from falling on anyone. Flashs moved, Lanterns built walls, the chaos was organized.

The rubble settled, the building was decimated, the heroes began congratulating each other on a job well done. Then J'onn's voice settled in the original seven's heads, "Superman you need to move the large pac man shaped boulder now. John keep the debris from filling in the space." His mental voice sounded urgent.

Superman moved to do as requested even as he mentally asked, "What's the problem J'onn."

"The annihilator did block my telepathy from properly scanning the building," J'onn explained as Superman began to lift the rock, "there are two people trapped underneath."

All seven members paled growing quiet in the mass of celebrating heroes. Superman gingerly lifted the rock, trying not to crush anything beneath it. His sensitive hearing picked up a cough from beneath the rocks just before a laser sliced the air beneath him.

Count crawled from the rubble cane first, dragging a thirtyish year old woman behind her. Superman moved to help her and had the woman thrust at him, "Here," the girl said, "try not to screw up next time." She cradled an obviously bleeding side.

She observed the scene before her. Despite the general dislike of the Count, Superman was still Superman, "Here let's get you both down and someone can look at that side."

"No." Count said smoothly, "I'm fine thankyou."

"Let us help you," Superman said, "we're all heroes here."

She dragged herself to her feet, "I'm not," she leaned heavily on the cane, "I'm just here until you stop needing me."

Batman's voice blasted through the cowl, "Tell her I insist, she needs medical attention Kent and I need to have a word with this Count. She's rescued individuals that we've missed far too often for it to be a coincidence."

Count quirked her head like she'd heard and slammed her cane against the ground, disappearing in a blinding blaze of light that even Superman couldn't track.

"Guys," Dick's voice cut through the feed, "Diana, you need to come see this now."

"Not now," Batman snapped.

Nightwing gave the tone back, "Yes now, unless a half dead goddess stumbling out of the sky doesn't merit attention." There was a mumble in the background then Dick's voice returned, "My apologies, the goddess Artemis on behalf of Athena who needs to talk to Princess Diana and her husband now because of course," Nightwing's voice was dry, "the fate of the world depends on it."

* * *

**And here we go, things are going to start happening in the real world just as our letters start getting vague. After all Sarah doesn't know who is going to be getting these things so she's not going to say too much! Also good new I'm back into a routine so we shouldn't be dealing with this infrequent update crap that I'm going to subtly apologize for without actually saying that I'm apologizing. Thanks for sticking with me!**


	12. Letter 12: Mortal

Artemis loved this. The fight, the hunt, the twirling, the chase, the twang of her bowstring, the feather between her fingers, Artemis did not seek out war but it was an expression of the hunt and she was made to hunt. Her only concern was that the quiver was running low and the approaching hoard didn't seem to be slowing. Not for the first time that day she wished for her brother's return, the twins fighting together, the sun and moon in their dance. Arrows firing in tandem.

Still, the scent of the hunt was marvellous; Artemis had tasked herself with hunting out the core of this fight. Every hunt had a core, a prize, the ultimate kill; she would find it in this one. She released another arrow and smirked with satisfaction as the blood of the great beast splattered her face. An excellent kill, but not the one she was looking for.

She had one wound, a small one. Artemis grinned, it had been a long time since she'd seen her own ichor, the golden blood of the gods, and it reminded her of the thrill of this hunt. It had been many years since she'd had a challenge like this. In this modern era good hunts were few and far between. The goddess fought on, losing track of time.

A tingling ran through Artemis but the goddess ignored it as she plunged an arrow into the heart of a foe. Then a call rang across the mountain, the horn of Hermes -the order for the gods to retreat to the temple of Zeus for a final press. Artemis scowled but obeyed, "Cowards," she hissed. "Zeus probably skinned his knee. We are far from beaten. We are immortal, they are not."

Weaving and dodging smoothly through the corpses she made her way back to the temple as requested, her flight feet leaving her opponents behind. She had been on the fringes, waiting to surround their enemy while the heavy hitters remained at the core. She could just make them out a vast mob of energy swirling and battling, dust rising, a great ruckus. She pulled another arrow from her bow and took aim from a distance, a large Minator getting her attention. Just before she could fire a hand grabbed her arm and pulled her behind a nearby column. The arrow fired off into the air.

Artemis cursed at her assailant, prepared to pummel them then her eyes widened in surprise when she saw Athena crouched before her. Still Artemis was angry, "Athena," she hissed, "what are you doing? I had a perfect shot." Then she did a double take, "why are we hiding from these mortal fools?"

"Because it is the best tactic," Athena whispered, "we have little time Artemis. You must listen to me, I need you to flee this fight and go to Earth."

The goddess of the hunt looked indignant, "Flee? Never. We will defeat these fools even if it takes a thousand years."

Athena shushed her, "We don't have a thousand years Artemis, we don't even have a day. This is a fight we will lose." She cut Artemis off before she could protest again, "Look at your arm, I see you are wounded."

"It matters not…" Artemis began, then paused, confused at what she was seeing. It was hard to make out against the monsters blood splattered along her person but, "I'm bleeding." Artemis breathed. The little red line oozed from her cut, not the golden ichor of gods but the pathetic red blood of morals.

"We all are." Athena confirmed, "somehow Enyo has turned us mortal."

"Impossible," Artemis breathed.

Athena smiled wryly, "Apparently not." She grew serious again, "Artemis listen to me. You need to go to Earth, speak to Diana and warn her of the danger to her daughter." Athena cut off Artemis' protest, "I'm sure you've heard the rumours, that she was only brought back to life to save us later on."

"Of course," Artemis said, "Aphrodite was gossiping to everyone, but that's surely just a rumour."

Athena nodded, "As far as I know but Enyo is here to free Ares and Ares isn't going to take that chance. He'll hunt her down and kill her just in case, not to mention what satisfaction he'd get from killing Diana's child a second time."

Artemis nodded curtly, it fit with Ares, "Why don't you go?" She raised her bow, "I'll hold them off."

"It needs to be you Artemis," Athena said urgently, "Enyo will miss my presence here before yours. She'll think you're hiding in the bushes waiting to strike. Artemis, you must do this. And if anyone can get into contact with Apollo it will be you." The younger goddess took a deep breath and nodded. Athena smiled, "Don't worry, Apollo and I know what we're doing. Find Diana, tell her she needs to bring her daughter back to the ones she loves. Find Apollo and ask him about the prophecy, ask him if the rumours are real."

Artemis nodded, "Where is the young princess?"

"I don't know." Athena said.

Artemis was shocked, although she had known that Athena had put a blanket block to prevent all the gods from tracking Sarah of Themyscria she'd assumed Athena had made herself exempt, "What? She could be anywhere."

Athena adjusted her shining armour, "Diana's husband is a detective, he will search for her. This is also why you need to find Apollo, he may know where she is. A decade ago he set himself up as the child's patron."

Artemis' jaw dropped but before she could ask more questions Athena's sword raised into the air, "They're coming. Go Artemis, run. Gaia help us all."

The mortal goddess of the hunt went stumbling off, running into the forested part of the Mountain she knew well. The mortal goddess of war and wisdom threw herself into the enemy's path. As Artemis fled she could hear the screams behind her.

* * *

The pictures faded from their minds as J'onn's eyes lost their glow. The founders looked at the mortal goddess lying unconscious before them in the Watchtower infirmary. Despite the crowded conditions they'd managed to get her a single room.

J'onn resumed his ministrations, "Although I won't show you she had a difficult journey here without her powers and was pursued by many foes." Artemis didn't look well, she was pale, bleeding outwardly, had a broken arm and a nearby x-ray showed extensive internal bleeding. In short she looked like a human who had run from death itself.

"Diana," Bruce said, his tone unreadable.

That one word was all she needed, Wonder Woman snapped back to attention, "We need to rally the League. Enyo will free Ares and they will attack Earth together. Shayara, get the JLJ and put them somewhere safe, eventually Ares will come to finish what he started twenty-one years ago. Donna and I will rally the Amazons. John, see if you can call New Genesis and get us some gods of our own. J'onn, see how many League members you can patch up in time to fight. Wally, I need to you read every book you can get your hands on until we learn everything about Ares and Enyo. Kal, fly to the fortress and get that blade that cuts even your skin. Ares will not get another chance." Her eyes burned brightly. "And what are you waiting for?" She asked her husband, "Batman needs to track down Apollo and our daughter."

He stared at her then reached over and handed her a steel IV pole, "Snap it."

She stared at him like he was crazy.

"The gods are mortal, the same gods you get your powers from." He folded his arms, "We go nowhere until I know you're still at 100%."

She snapped it into two pieces and threw them at him, "Happy?"

"Somewhat." He just kept standing there. Clark tried to gesture at him from behind Diana's back that he better start moving or his wife was going to kill him. Bruce just stood there maintaining eye contact with Wonder Woman.

Diana snapped at him, "Don't you have a computer to go to or something."

"I'm already running every scan I can with the information we have." Batman said bluntly, "I'm waiting for you to calm down and let me tell everyone what we actually have to do." He saw her temper flare and continued, "Diana you're thinking emotionally. We all are. But this isn't a war to wage, this is a defensive battle. It's a race. Our first priority should be to find Sarah, not gather more data on gods we know everything about anyway or to force wounded Leaguers to fight before they're ready. Enyo timed everything perfectly."

"Bruce," Wally said, "I know you want to find Sarah and all but isn't Diana right? Shouldn't we be planning for war? He is."

Batman scowled, "No he's not. He is war. He doesn't have to plan for it. In terms of strength besides us calling New Genesis both sides are for war ready as they're going to be. We need to think like Ares and if Artemis' memories are right Ares is going to be thinking that he needs to neutralize Sarah. He's going to act like this 'prophecy'" Bruce's tone conveyed what he thought of the word, "is real, so we will too. First we find Sarah."

Diana's glared soften slightly.

"And how do we do that?" Shayara asked, her own detective skills peaked slightly.

Batman strode past the founders and they turned to follow him, "We talk to the one person we know she's spoken to who can remember it."

"Jay," Flash filled in, "the twins are with Linda, back in the conference room."

"We have to talk to Aaron too," John jumped in. Shayara sighed and rubbed her forehead, nodding in agreement.

Wally looked confused as they scuttled down the hallway, "Isn't he too little to remember Sarah?"

"Yeah," Shayara said, "but she said she's been watching him. He's a quick kid, maybe he's noticed someone hanging around." Batman nodded once.

Diana lagged behind slightly and called after them, "We have this too." She held up the next letter from the pile, a postcard that clearly depicted a mountain in Tibet. There was no writing on the postcard, just a swirling symbol in black calligraphy on the back. Batman backtracked and snatched it up immediately, examined it for five seconds. Then he barked into his communicator, "Come in Nightwing." There was a pause, "NOW"

A voice crackled in, "Hold your horses B, your grandson is terrorizing the Watchtower cafeteria."

"What is Apollo doing on here?" Bruce snapped, "it's not safe."

"Because," Dick was trying to sound patient, "all of our babysitters are either wounded, on clean-up or still on active duty. He'll be fine."

"Fine," Bruce said, "I need you to get Talia on the line. Now. I don't care what you have to do, storm the whole League of Shadows if you must. But do it now and do it fast."

"Whaa"

Batman cut off Dick's question and slid the postcard into his belt. The founders were staring at him, "Keep moving people." Batman said herding them towards the conference room, "this just got significantly more complicated."

When they burst into the room the two women in the center of it didn't even flinch. "Took you long enough," Lois said without looking up, "look what a couple of powerless reporters cooked up while you were gone."

The conference table was covered in photos and maps. Photo albums were piled up on the seats. Linda used shuffled a few photos around and then stepped back to admire their work, "Sarah's life," she explained, "as near as we can get."

There were dozens of photos of Sarah. Some were whole class photos from when she went to school with Jay, others were clearly more personal and pulled from the West's scrapbooks. A young Sarah smiling next to Jay, Sarah and Jay playing with a baby boy, Iris, Sarah and Jay in the West's kitchen, Sarah and Jay with a Wonder Woman project poster, Jay with his arm around Sarah, then there was a large gap. Finally there were a bunch of images of Iris, John Kent, Jay and Sarah before prom.

Linda held out a photo to Diana, "it's the most recent one I could find." The shot had caught Sarah mid-laugh as she adjusted Jay's bow tie, pulled in tight on their faces.

Diana ran her fingers over the image, "thank you," she said softly. Sarah had Bruce's eyes, her hair, her mother's nose.

A blur filled the room and FazeFlash stood before them, the papers rustled slightly but stayed put. Both women lived with speedsters, they knew to tack everything down. Iris pulled back her yellow sleeve and check a watch, "Right on time as directed," she chirped, "what's up?"

Linda's brow was furrowed, "I asked Jay to come."

"Yeah," Iris flapped her hand, "but he's busy, I owed him a favour. You just need something run somewhere right." Iris shrugged, "I'm faster anyway." Then she caught a glance at the table, "why are we so interested in Sarah Donnell?"

"Iris," Wally said sternly, "we need Jay."

Iris kept looking at the table, "Uh yeah Dad but like I said he's a little bit busy."

Batman leaned forward, invading her space, "Go get FlashBomb." He growled.

She shivered slightly, "Sure thing Uncle B, ten seconds, the teleporters are slow." The blur whisked away and returned. "Ummmmmm slight problem." She held out Jay's communicator, "I found it stashed in a bush."

Fear instantly appeared on Wally and Linda's faces.

Iris rushed to reassure them, "No, no, no, he's fine. Don't worry. It was clearly placed there. We ditch these things all the time when important stuff comes up. If we're moving fast enough you can't tell who it is anyway, we're just blurs. We cover for each other." Then her brain caught up to her mouth, "And we're going to get in a lot of trouble for that aren't we."

"So you have no way of contacting him." Linda crossed her arms in a way that meant Iris was severely in trouble later, Linda didn't care if she was 22.

"Um no." Iris blushed, "but seriously, what are you doing with all this stuff on Sarah?" She tried to change the topic.

Wally was flying past the room's monitors setting them to find his son as soon as possible, "Do you know what Jay's doing that's so important?" He paused long enough to say. Then he peered over Bruce's shoulder from where he was examining the pictures, "I always loved that one," he pointed to a shot of a smaller Jay and Sarah, "Rodger was great with a camera." Batman froze.

"Um no, not exactly." Iris said, "I mean this doesn't usually happen, Jay covers for me not visa versa." Iris shrugged, "It's usually for important dates, birthdays, that time I had to get the new Pauper or Princess album and had to wait in line, when Rex broke his wings. You know, important stuff. Knowing Jay it's something dumb like they're releasing a new video game, he'll be back soon I bet."

Linda put a hand out to slow her daughters motor mouth, "Iris, sweetie, it's okay. He'll turn up. I need you to think carefully before answering. I'm sure you remember Sarah Donnell?" Iris nodded, "When was the last time you saw her." Iris opened her mouth immediately, "Stop." Linda commanded, "think it through, be sure."

Iris paused, quirked her head a little and then said, "Last time I saw her in person would be prom. Last time I spoke to her would have been maybe three months after that."

Linda tried to keep her voice calm, it was later than anything else they had. The founders shifted in place, "What did you talk to her about?"

"Ummmm, well she didn't call to talk to me exactly. She wanted to talk to Jay but he wasn't home so I took a message." Iris was drumming her fingers rapidly on the table, she didn't meet her mother's eye.

"And what was that message?" Linda prompted.

Iris sighed, "She was saying goodbye. She wanted to tell Jay that he was right and that she was sorry and that she was going to be gone for a while. She didn't know if she'd see him again but to tell him that he was a great person even if they didn't always see eye to eye and she knew he was going to do big things. Then I asked her where she was going and she said that she was going to go find herself. She told me to look after Jay and to make sure that he knew that she wouldn't try to be that kind of gone again. Then she hung up." Iris shrugged. "I haven't heard from her since."

"You gave the message to Jay?" Batman asked.

Iris nodded.

"And how did he react?" Batman continued.

"Uh," Iris thought about it, "he smiled but it was kind of a sad smile you know? Like happy but sad."

"Anything else?" Batman pushed.

Iris' fingers beat the table faster, "Nope."

Wally jumped in before Bruce could call her on her obvious bluff, "Iris come on. This is important."

"Why?" FazeFlash jumped on the words, "Why is it so important? I'm not going to spill my bros personal stuff without good cause."

The founders exchanged the glances. Wally clearly wanted to say everything. Bruce nothing. J'onn took the middle ground, "Because Ares is coming."

Iris visibly blanched, Linda covered her mouth and instinctively reached out for her daughter, Lois made eye contact with Clark who nodded, and then sat back in her seat, hard. The founders waited expectantly.

FazeFlash swallowed, "Yep, that's a good reason. Okay, I asked Jay what it was all about and eventually got it out of him. A couple of weeks previously he'd met her as FlashBomb by accident," Iris paused and then continued, "She was trying to commit suicide, he'd talked her down from jumping off the edge of a building."

* * *

_Excerpt from Jay's Journal_

Long time no see huh? Like months worth and before that years worth. You were pretty dusty too, sorry about that but I've got to hide you really well. The team would never let me live it down if they knew an 18 year old guy still journaled (not a diary to anyone reading who shouldn't be, Jack I'm looking at you), not to mention the merciless teasing from Iris. Sheesh sisters. But I've got a story for you, one I don't think I should forget because it was important. This is where I write important stuff.

I saw Sarah again today. You remember Sarah right? Of course you do, she's all over a lot of these pages. Hang on, I forgot to put out the garbage. Back. Okay yeah Sarah. So I was out and about running through the city as always, stopping crime, being awesome, that whole deal. Suddenly I got an urge to eat Louie's French fries which was weird because I usually hate them but all I could see in my head was Louie's fry shop so I popped a couple cities over to grab a bunch. So I'm eating my fries in costume in an ally just beside the building when I happen to glance up and see this girl way up on like the 100th floor or something and looking down. I figure that can't be safe so I zip up there to tell her she should probably step back.

Then I get up there and I realize two things. 1) She intentionally standing on the ledge 2) It's Sarah. I couldn't help it, I didn't sound professional at all, I was just like, "What are you doing?" I shouted it and then just grabbed her arm and yanked her back, her foot was already over the ledge and we both sort of teetered and then fell backward. Then she shouted back at me.

"What are you doing? Let go!"

And then I was all, "You were about to jump off a building."

And she said, "So what? If I want to that's my prerogative, you heroes don't get to control everything." I kinda wanted to laugh because only Sarah would say prerogative in a situation like this and I was sad that she said heroes so meanly and I was confused because Sarah was trying to kill herself.

And then she climbed onto the ledge again and I pulled her back again. I said "I can't let you do that."

Then she asked me, "Why not? Is that some kind of hero rule? What you want goes ahead of what the individual wants because you've got powers. You can decide what's best for everyone. Well you can't. I make my own choices. You don't get to pick and choose who to save. I don't want saving, go save someone else."

I got a little scared there because Sarah looked super mean. But then I looked a little closer and I realized that she was crying too. Sarah almost never cries. But I tried to focus because FlashBomb doesn't know Sarah and said, "I don't have a clue what's best for people. I just try to save whomever I can, wherever I can find them. I don't pick. It's just chance. I run around and see who I can see. Maybe I wouldn't have seen you on any other day but today I had a craving for French fries and ended up here. No plans. Same as any other person, you just happen to see a kid falling out of a tree and you try to catch them. No ulterior motive. I don't pick. I guess well, the universe does."

She stared at me funny so I kept going, "Apparently today the universe wants you alive because it made me want French fries." I held out the carton, "want one?"

Sarah just kind of stared at me, but a little differently. Her eyes were scrunched up and she was biting her lip. You know, that look she gets when she's thinking. I guess it was a weird thing to say given the situation but I've always found that the simple stuff is the best. I can handle the simple.

Finally I just shook the cartoon a little and she finally reached out and grabbed one. Then she grabbed me by the front of my uniform and pulled me really close to her face. I could have stopped her but I didn't because the motion made her step farther away from the ledge. Plus she kind of caught me by surprise. So I was super close to her face and all I could think about was prom which was the last time I was this close to her face. Her eyes had looked so pretty they're this really unique blue with tiny little flecks of almost black in them. I'd told myself after prom that I was overdoing how pretty they were but apparently I wasn't.

Then she suddenly pushed me back and threw a fry at me, "No way, no way. Jay, is that you under there?"

Redheads blush, we can't help it. And it totally gave me away.

Sarah of course noticed immediately, "You're blushing like a traffic light. Jay, that is totally you. How does that costume fool anyone? A shock of red hair out the top, same chin and mouth, you're wearing the same cologne. Do you want people to figure it out?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." I blurted out.

Then she got that look that I'm really afraid of, the one that meant I just said something stupid. Not that I was stupid, but that I'd said something I was going to regret.

"You tell me the name of my little brother or I step off this ledge so fast even Flash won't be able to stop me." One look in her eyes said she'd do it to. All the adults would kill me but come on, it was Sarah! I couldn't just let her die and it didn't seem right to just whisk her off the ledge. With Sarah that just seemed wrong, like maybe I owed her this.

"Aaron," I blurted, "your little brother is Aaron, Sarah. Fine yes it's me. Happy?"

She stepped back off the ledge, stole my fries and plopped onto the ground, "Not really."

I sat down beside her, "You want to tell me what's going on here?"

"No."

I believed her. Most people would have pushed but you can't do that with Sarah. If she'd said nope, or naw then okay, she did want to talk. But no meant no with Sarah, you couldn't push her when things got bad. I still remember when her mom died, you couldn't even touch her without a recoil.

So we just sat there, silently, for hours. I turned off my communicator and we sat there and ate cold, disgusting French fries on the top of a skyscraper. Then eventually we got the bright idea to throw the fries up into the air and watch the seagulls catch them. It was like nothing else existed, like she wasn't in the middle of a suicide attempt, like I wasn't FlashBomb, it was just there. Two old friends not needing to say anything sitting on top of a building.

Eventually it had to end though. Sarah broke it. She was fiddling with the empty cardboard container, "So your dad…"

"is The Flash." I completed.

She just nodded. She didn't accuse him or bring up that day. She didn't apologize for the way she felt about him either or all the mean things she'd said about heroes. Sarah was Sarah. The Flash was my dad, I had his powers, it changed nothing and it changed everything.

We sat a little longer. "You should go," she said at last, "more whims to answer, people to save. I'm sure your team is looking for you."

I stood and extended a hand to pull her up after me, "Probably." I looked at her, it was my turn to speak about the things that were there but we were pretending weren't, "Sarah," she winced slightly, "look at me." That was maybe a little harsh in retrospect but she did, "I don't know why you were up here today or what drove you to it and I certainly don't know why I suddenly had a craving for those nasty fries." She smiled a little, "But if I know you I know two things." She quirked an eyebrow as she's inclined to do, "One, you are the nicest, smartest, most beautiful, kindest souled, strong willed, stubborn, competitive and best friend that I know." I cut off her evitable protest, "and two, the second you step off the edge of that building whatever it is that made you come here, it wins. And you Sarah, never settle for losing. Even when you don't make the top you're kicking and screaming until you get something better."

Then I kissed her on the forehead really fast, ruffled her hair and said, "you need me, I'm there in a Flash." And zoomed off.

Maybe it's stupid to leave suicidal girls alone on rooftops and I'm still wondering if I should have done everything really differently. But Sarah is Sarah and simple is best. I can handle the simple and to me Sarah is simple. And complicated. But simple.

* * *

**So here's the deal, my laptop fried itself and i lost everything I'd written for these stories including partial chapters and outlines. I'm working rewriting it all but I want to thank you all for your patience. Enyo for those who don't know is basically a female Ares. It's actually kind of fun writing without an outline, I've got to remember the answers to all the questions i raised like where's apollo, where's sarah, how's talia involved, where did jay go, what's ares going to do, what prophecy, what happened to the gods, where's rodger, how's aaron? **

**I love to hear from you guys, reviews, requests, what you think is going to happen, the weather, things you hated, anything, complaints this was too long. Just need to update The Six and then I'll be back here!**


	13. Letter 13: Accounts

The conference was silent as the adults sat and stood around the room, contemplating the information Iris had given them and wondering what exactly had driven Sarah to a rooftop. Diana looked ill as she sagged slightly in her chair.

Iris had to try to fill the empty air, "But I mean she didn't do it, Jay didn't think she actually was going to do it. And I don't know why she was going to, so don't ask. But more importantly," Iris crossed her arms, "if Ares is coming why in the world do you care? He tried to kill us. He's the reason everything went wacko. Why the sidebar?"

"We are well aware of what Ares is capable." Batman was unperturbed by the announcement, "thank you for your help Iris."

The girl gaped slightly; Batman didn't thank people, "Uh you're welcome Uncle B."

His cape swirled as he turned back to the monitors, "Now go get Aaron, we need to speak to him."

She was still in shock, "Uh, yeah, uh huh, sure, Aaron, got it." FazeFlash disappeared.

Shayara rubbed her forehead, "We need to figure out what we're telling him." The group moved towards the conference table.

"B-Bruce," Diana's voice was wavering.

Batman hadn't moved from the monitors, "She's fine Diana. She sent us the letters, whatever she was feeling she moved past it."

"How can you be so calm?" She snapped.

Superman spoke at a frequency only superhearing could detect, "Diana, calm down. You know better than this."

She looked again. Batman was gripping the monitor console so hard that it should have snapped. Diana closed her eyes briefly, chastising herself at her own mistake, stepped forward and repeated his words, "She's fine Bruce. She didn't do it. She still exists out there. We can save her."

"Of course, that's what I just said," his words were gruff but his hands relaxed and one reached out to briefly squeeze her own, "What's the next letter?"

Diana examined the pile in her hands, the unopened side getting progressively thinner. She extracted a folded paper, "This one I believe."

* * *

To: Genetic Donors

I saw Aaron again. He's grown significantly and he looks so much like Mom. Granted I couldn't see much through that mask over his face. As I'm sure you've figured out as the son of Green Lantern, Aaron is now Blue Lantern. Apparently one of the youngest in any of the corps. There's irony for you, not only is my brother raised by supers but he's one himself. A Lantern, a blue one, a champion of hope. Hope. Of all the colours his emotions run most closely to hope, mine never would. Hope is something I don't have the luxury to believe in. But maybe this means I made the right choice of leaving him with his 'family', he wouldn't have found hope with me. And nobody wants my life. Even Roger is doing better than I am, the jerk.

It's not bad necessarily but it's certainly not hope-filled. It's full of blood and sweat, no tears. What kind of a wimp are you if you're crying? But it's giving me the training that I need. See I figured out what I want to do and to do it I'm going to need skills and toys that I don't yet have. But I'm working on it. Yes my life sucks but that's what makes it worthwhile. I do this right and maybe another little girl won't have to live this life.

I haven't seen Jay lately; frankly I don't think he'd want to see me. The last time I saw him was the day I broke. There was a lot leading up to it, most of which I can't say. But it's huge, honestly I just pretend it doesn't exist, it's easier that way. But the straw that broke the camel's back? It was when they announced the appearance of Blue Lantern. I looked at my brother, standing beside the same heroes who had ruined _my_ life, smiling up at them, becoming one of them and it broke me. He wasn't really my brother anymore. The one bit of family I had left, I didn't even have. He didn't know me, would never agree with me, probably be ashamed of me and we weren't even actually related. I snapped. I ended up on a rooftop, looking down. Nothing to fight for. He was happy, he had hope. He didn't need me. Nobody needed me. I didn't even need me. I'd come to hate myself, some days I still do. But suddenly there was Jay on the roof. He was just Jay, the same as always. He talked me down. I haven't seen him since.

Then I figured out who needed me. Nine year old me and every kid like her needed me. And I'm going to help them, no matter what it takes. I'll change my account.

- S

* * *

"What's up?" Aaron sauntered into the room and broke the spell that Diana's voice had lulled the occupants into.

Rex was right beside him looking a little more nervous, "I know you didn't ask for me but Iris was talking even faster than usual, which I didn't think was possible and then you ask for my little bro man. May I stay?"

Shayara smirked slightly, Rex had her disposition. He only asked politely when he was really really curious. "I suppose this is a family matter." Her eyes grew serious again, "Aaron, Rex, sit."

They joined the Leaguers at the table, clearly trying to figure out the significance of the pictures all over the table. John looked as his sons, "Aaron," he said, "we have something we need to tell you."

"Dad," Aaron said with false lightness, "I think I've caught onto the whole adopted thing."

"You have a sister." Shayara blurted. John shot her a look and she threw her hands the air, "I'm not good at stuff like this." She redirected her attention back to her youngest son and knelt beside him, "Let me amend that, we believe that you had an adopted sister when you were with your birth parents."

Aaron nodded slowly, "the extra hand."

Shayara raised an eyebrow, "I hadn't thought about that but yes, I suppose so."

Aaron looked around the room, "So why is this a League matter?" He blanched slightly, "Oh crap, she's a bad guy isn't she? Of course she is. Why not? I've got a super villain for a sister. What did she do?" He crinkled his brow, "she wants to see me doesn't she? Some crazy demand?" He couldn't quite hide the hope in his eyes that he wanted to see her.

"No," John said, "She's not a super villain as far as we know."

"Oh," Aaron almost sounded disappointed.

Shayara paused, "We uh think that she's uh…"

"Our daughter," Diana said softly.

The two boys' head swiveled.

"Whoa," Rex breathed, "as in the mythical Sarah Wayne?"

Batman growled, "So it would seem." He moved over to the young boy, "Aaron, we have a series of letters that she's written. They mention a brother whose story matches your own." He gestured to the table, "we need to know if you've ever seen her."

The preteen took a quick glance and didn't even have to consider it, "Sure, that's that girl."

Rex plucked the picture from his hand, "The reappearing one?"

"Mmhmm." Aaron confirmed. Then he looked up to see the shock and anger in the eyes around him, "Aaaaaand I'm in trouble. Why? Is she dangerous? She never felt dangerous. But you know I'm inclined to see the best in people. You know, the hope thing? But she's not like a stalker. I just see her sometimes."

"Aaron," Shayara tried to remain calm, "are you telling us that you've been aware of a person effectively continually appearing in your life and failed to tell us."

"Ummmmmmm," he looked at his shoes, "I suppose." He looked up, "but I told Rex! Just in case."

Attention was cast to the older brother who fidgeted, "He asked me not to tell you." His parents were not impressed, "We're known superheroes." Rex defended himself, "it would be weirder if people weren't watching us."

"Did she ever speak to you?" John asked.

He shook his head, "Nope. She'd just be there. Like when I started school? She was on the roof. I usually see her on my birthday. She just watches for a while and then goes away. The last time was grade 8 grad, but not since then."

Batman was immediately back at the computer console. Suddenly the family video tape of the event was playing on the large screens.

"Good to know our private files are truly private." John remarked.

The tape played through for almost five minutes before Aaron screeched, "there, right there! Pause it." There was nothing on the screen. "Rewind it like five seconds. It's when Dad panes over the crowd to find Uncle Wally, right by the back of the bleachers."

Aaron shouted again and then sent a large blue arrow pointing to the right person, "that's her."

It didn't look like the photos the Wests had of Sarah. This girl was a platinum blonde, none of the thick black frames that defined Sarah's face, clothes a little too tight but very trendy and a bored look on her well make-uped face.

"You sure?" Wally had to ask, "That doesn't look anything like our Sarah."

Batman zoomed in, "That's the point," the League couldn't miss the pride that tinged his voice, "she's trying not to look like Sarah." He leaned back in his seat, "facial points give her away though." He pulled up a second screen; the computer gave a 99% positive match to Sarah Donnell, "It's most probably her."

"So where is she?" Aaron asked, "I'd like to ask her a couple of things."

Shayara shook his head, "We don't know."

"Yet." Diana said confidently.

Rex was looking over the other pictures, "Does this have anything to do with the events of today?"

"Not directly," Superman held up a hand, "Please don't ask Rex, we can't tell you more at this point."

Aaron was almost bouncing up and down, "So how do we find her?"

* * *

John looked at Bruce, "I don't like this."

"Then go home" the reply was blunt.

John crossed his arms and settled farther back into the seat, "And let you kill the man? No thank you."

Bruce scowled from under the cowl, "We shouldn't have brought Aaron."

Aaron stared out the window, "Aaron can hear you."

"Just be thankful Diana stayed behind," Bruce had to smile at John's words, that hadn't been an easy fight.

Aaron tapped on the window, "I think we're here." Any trace of a smile was wiped off of the faces.

They didn't bother knocking on the door but let themselves in. Batman blended into the shadows, using the Lanterns' glow to his advantage.

"I wondered when you'd show up," a low voice rumbled from a straight-back chair, the only light on in the house being the one on the desk in front of the man, "finally got around to visiting your old man huh?"

Aaron stared.

The man stood and reached across the desk towards John, "Roger Donnell."

"John Stewart," Green Lantern shook the hand offered.

He turned the hand to Aaron, "It's good to see you again Aaron." Aaron stared at the hand, "It is still Aaron isn't it?" Roger asked keeping his hand extended.

"Um yeah," Aaron finally shook hands.

Roger moved slightly and turned the room's lights on, "Sorry about that, I tend to write my best work in the dark." He stacked the papers on his desk, then his eyes widened as he took in the room, "Batman, now this is a surprise."

He gestured to a couple of chairs, "Feel free to sit." The Stewarts did so, Batman did not. Roger kept looking at Aaron.

"I got something on my face?" Aaron had to ask with a smile.

Roger shook his head and looked away, "Sorry, it's just, well, you look so much like Katie. She would have been so proud of you, our son."

John stiffened, "_My son_, with all due respect I believe you lost any right to claim Aaron as your own." Batman watched from the shadows, gauging.

The smile on Roger's face wasn't kind, "Believe that if you wish, nature versus nurture is quite the battle. Anything good in _my son_ didn't come from you and it didn't come from me, it came from Katie, bless her soul, for the short time she had with him."

John's face took on a Batman like quality, "Well I can certainly believe that it didn't come from you."

"Judging me for my jail time huh?" Roger leaned back in the seat, "that's not very _Justice League_ of you is it now? I did my time, paid for my crime. If you weren't a damn superhero with dozens of bureaucratic friends I would have gotten _my son_ back years ago. Believe me I tried. But now he's come back on his own, I've been clean since I've been out and I'd like to get to know the only family I have regardless of your opinion. You can't be much of a father, flying off to missions all the time, probably just adopted the kid as a publicity stunt, trying to compensate for marrying a traitor alien and having a halfbreed freak for a son."

Aaron's face grew hard.

John's ring glowed dangerously, "You're not fit to have a family. You're a child abusing drunkard and you're not getting anywhere near _my son_."

"What happened to my sister?" Aaron spoke for the first time.

Roger's eyebrows shot up and he folded his hands behind his head, "So you've heard about Sarah have you? I wouldn't trouble yourself with that brat, kid. She doesn't count as your sister. Bit of a freak honestly, too smart for her own good, too driven, just too much. She wasn't normal. Thank goodness there's no actual relation to us. Katie wanted to adopt when we thought we couldn't have kids. But once we had you? Well," his laugh was harsh, "I didn't need a fake kid anymore did I?"

Batman finally stepped forward, or more accurately, suddenly was in Roger's face and taking up all of his personal space, "I'd suggest you consider your answers very carefully as I am not a tolerant man. I believe Aaron _Stewart_ asked you a question."

Roger was trying to school his features but couldn't hide the sweat that had suddenly appeared on his forehead. He tried the bravado again, "What's in it for you Batman?"

Suddenly Roger was having trouble breathing as a thick black glove reached out. "A better question," Batman growled, "is how much you enjoy an uncrushed windpipe." Roger couldn't get words out, ragged rasps filled the air. "So let's try this again," Batman continued, "Where is Sarah?" He loosened his grip slightly.

A quick gasp for air and Roger forced the words out, "Last time I saw her was right after I got out, couple of years ago. I don't know where she went or where she was. I only know that she'd, and I quote, 'just gotten back'."

"Explain." Batman growled.

Roger's audacity had to be admired. He spat in Batman's face, "I don't owe you anything."

Blue Lantern barely managed to stop Batman's crippling blow, "But you owe me." The boy said with too much calm, "explain."

* * *

"What little faith I had in the justice system has just been eliminated entirely." The female voice came straight out of Roger's past and a quick glance into the door way confirmed it.

He didn't spare her a second glance as he threw the orange jumpsuit into the fireplace, "Miss me Sarah?"

She ignored him.

Roger caught her from the corner of his eye. She was broader and taller than he would have expected, more muscular too and not unattractive, "So the ugly duckling returns, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

She leaned harder against the doorframe, watching him.

Long black hair, a bit of a curl to it surprisingly enough, thick black frames, Roger couldn't help his curiosity. He chanced another glance and almost smirked, "I see you've added to your collection of scars. At least I still have the honor of being the first." Roger wasn't sure why he was baiting her but he needed someone to through his bitterness onto, she fit the bill.

Her foot jiggled slightly and he knew he was getting to her. He pointed to it until she looked down and said, "Same Sarah, same tells, still too smart for your own good, nice to see you haven't changed."

The foot stilled.

He rummaged through a box for some matches, "I don't suppose you bothered to keep an eye on my son did you? You always had a weak spot for the boy, I need to get him away from those freaks." Roger's voice cracked slightly.

"He was legally adopted by them," she said tonelessly, "you won't get him back."

Roger slammed a drawer shut, "And they didn't want you? Surprise, surprise." He glanced up in time to see an actual flinch on her face, "hit a sore spot did I kiddo?" He leaned against the front of the desk, the box of matches in his hand, "I suppose it would be huh? No-one's ever wanted you for long. Your birth parents gave you up. Katie died. I never really wanted someone else's brat. I'll bet you never got adopted either huh? Too weird. Too old. Too corrupted."

He watched her face shut down and was secretly impressed by her control, "So what are you here for kid? I'm sure it wasn't to jaunt down memory lane."

"I'm trying to figure out what to do with you." Sarah said.

Roger fumbled with the matches, "I see. So you're judging me huh?"

For the first time she stepped past the doorway, "Out of everyone I'd say that I have the right."

"To hold me accountable?" He clarified.

Roger noticed the knife strapped to her hip for the first time as she fiddled with the strap, "If you like. You always were big on that word."

His smile wasn't pleasant, "At least you remember something but Sarah, kid, you have no right to call me account for my actions."

"Really?" The skepticism in her voice was clear, "a year of neglect, physical and emotional abuse coupled with all your other crap doesn't give me the right."

Roger folded his hands, "Nope, because you _darling daughter_," the sarcasm was clear, "are no better than I am. Arguably worse. We're both bad guys. I'd have to call you to account for trying to murder me." Sarah froze. Roger continued, "At least I paid time for my crimes, over a decade. You got what? A couple of months of community service probably."

He took a step forward, "It's you Sarah who attempted murder at the tender age of eleven. Your account is dripping with as much guilt as mine, maybe more."

Her eyes narrowed, "I could kill you." The knife came out.

"It wouldn't be out of character." He challenged.

She met his eyes.

He grinned and pulled out a match, waving it around dramatically, "It kills you doesn't it? To know I'm right? That we're exactly the same Sarah. You spent all this time hating me didn't you? Only to turn right around and become me. So full of hate and anger and nowhere to put it. So violent. I bet your account is worse than mine, after all you've been out here with all that rage, all those scars. Who have you taken it out on? I had you for a year, you've had a decade to fester." He wiped away a fake tear, "I'm so proud."

Sarah took a step back, "I'm not you…"

So Roger advanced, "Where's that smart brain now kiddo? You skipped a grade, you were always so proud of that big brain. Now you can't even muster up the words to tell me that I'm wrong. Why is that? Perhaps it's because I'm right? I've hit the nail right on the head." His voice turned almost oily, the same tone he'd used years ago when making a pitch for a story, "We can wipe it out you know. Me and you. One last go. Clean the account. We'll get Aaron back. Save him from everything. Save him from becoming the same man who killed his mother. Bring him back here, to his family. I'll even let you visit him. And Sarah, we'll make them pay. Pay for taking Aaron. Pay for killing Katie." He lit the match, "We'll watch them burn."

Her eyes fixed on the tiny flame. His words bounced around her head, words that were horribly, terribly familiar. Words she'd said herself a dozen time.

Sarah spun the knife, "I know what I'm going to do with you." He tried to interrupt but she didn't let him. "Do you know what this knife is made of? The tip of the blade is the same glass that you attacked us with that last night. I've been waiting to properly return the favour." She moved forward again, "I've changed my mind."

She threw the knife. Roger winced but the knife went past him and straight into the fireplace, burying itself in his orange jumpsuit. "I won't kill you today, not for me, I don't have the account for it. But know this. Aaron is happy. He is free. He knows nothing of what you and I feel." She moved into Roger's personal space, "I made a choice to keep him from that corruption. I haven't spoken to him since I last saw you. But know this _Dad_," it was her turn to be sarcastic, "if you go anywhere near him. If you try to drag him anywhere near our darkness, or hurt his family, or attempt to contact him, or anything." She looked into his eyes and at the same time into her own, "I will kill you on the spot and take whatever consequence comes with it. Accounts be damned. I may spend the rest of my life trying to balance my account but if you mess with _my brother_ I. WILL. KILL. YOU."

Sarah turned to leave and as she did she hit Roger's hand. The lit match flew and landed in the fireplace, engulfing both the orange jumpsuit and knife in flames, burning one and melting the other.

* * *

The three heroes left Roger sitting in his chair.

Aaron attempted a little hope, "Well at least she didn't kill him. She's a good guy right?"

John started, "Of course she's a good-"

Batman cut him off, "That's not why she didn't kill him." His voice was heavy, the scenario was familiar, one that he played every time a certain inmate roamed Gotham, "She didn't kill him because she looked at her villain and saw herself in his eyes."

* * *

**Got my laptop back *cue happy dance* So the updates should keep coming, thank you all so much for your patience and I hope that you'll continue to support the story despite my unintentional hiatus. All comments, questions, reviews are welcome regardless of their nature. If you need a plot refresh I can provide one. Merry Christmas to all happy holidays and I'll see you in the new year. **


	14. Letter 14: Mothers

Shayara leaned over the computer console, "You ready for this?"

"This is not how I wanted to make this announcement," Diana ran a finger down her sword and frowned, "I had hoped this would be a joyous day."

Shayara smiled sadly, "That day will come."

Diana sighed and strapped the sword to her side, "Let's do this."

Shayara pushed the button.

Wonder Woman's face appeared on every non-vital screen in the Watchtower and was heard in the earpiece of every member not in front of a screen. Her voice was firm, confident, exactly what Wonder Woman needed to sound like. "My fellow league members, I regret to inform you that today's fight is not yet at an end. You have fought valiantly and I know I speak for the people of Earth when I say that your work is appreciated. However there is a larger threat at work." The Watchtower grew silent as the member listened to her words,

"I will not waste words that could be spent preparing but I wish for you all to be properly informed of the situation. A great battle has been waged on Mount Olympus today, the battle we fought was only sent as a distractor, to prevent us from offering aid. I regret to tell you that the gods have lost, they have become mortal. They faced a great attack by many monsters lead by the rogue goddess Enyo, you may know her as Strife. The ultimate fate of the gods is not known with only the goddess Artemis escaping to warn us. The battle is not over. Enyo attacked Olympus with only one purpose." Diana took a deep breath and the more astute members saw the clench of her fists, "to free Ares."

The shock of her words reverberated around the tower. Diana sat straighter, "Many of you may remember the last time we fought Ares. It was he whom stirred a great war lust in many of our enemies to keep us occupied. It was he who caused the Joker to capture some of our children. It was he whom ultimately caused some of our greatest moments of sadness." Diana didn't need to specify, every League member had a vivid image seared in their heads. One of Shayara weeping over her murdered daughter, inconsolable and of Diana next to her, coated in blood and trying desperately to revive a small premature baby girl. The Joker lying dead on the floor beyond them. Small children unconscious in a corner.

"Ares is coming here." Wonder Woman continued, "We are preparing a plan and we ask you all to be ready as well. I know you will join us in this fight."

Wonder Woman paused then, looking down, "There is, perhaps, one other thing you should know. It is more of a personal matter although I feel it may have some bearing on coming events, or that you should at least know the truth." Diana looked up, back at the camera. "It was twenty-one years ago exactly that we caught Ares and locked him up. Many of you may remember that this was also the day my daughter was taken from me. Many of you grieved with us, and friends, I thank you for your love. I am sorry that Batman and I have had to deceive you for all these years." If possible the Watchtower had grown quieter. "Our words were not a lie, Ares and the Joker did kill our daughter twenty-one years ago but," the word hung in the air, "the gods returned her to life. They did not explain their reasoning but offered a deal. They would restore Sarah to life on the condition that Batman and I could not raise her, could not know her." Diana's voice choked up slightly but she continued, "this condition expired today, on her twenty-first birthday. You may wonder why I'm telling you this when Ares is on the loose. We recently discovered that the gods rational for their actions was a prophecy, the contents of which we do not know. However it does not seem a coincidence that these dates would coincide. If Ares believes that prophecy relates to my daughter and him, he will come for her."

Diana leaned forward, "I ask you as a mother. Please, if you see Ares aim specifically for a young woman," Diana paused, "just keep an eye out. That being said, as a mother, we also know that Ares will take great pleasure in destroying any of our children. If you wish for your children to be placed in any League safe house we will accommodate, if you wish to withdraw your children temporarily from any team they are on we will accept, no questions asked. I know these next few hours will be difficult but I know we will succeed. We have beaten Ares once, we will do so again and we will do it together, as a family. Thank you. Assignments will be handed out when they are available. Also if anyone knows the whereabouts of Flashbomb he is needed immediately. Good luck everyone."

There was a moment of silence and then the Watchtower exploded in talk.

Wally came flying in, "Well that went well. Everyone is in a tizzy, but a good tizzy. A productive one."

"Find Jay?" Diana asked, heading back over to the monitors.

Flash shook his head, "Nope, sorry Di. He's not in any of the usual spots."

"It's okay Wally," Wonder Woman rubbed her eyes, "Where's Superman?"

"Tactical stuff I think," Flash said, "J'onn is with Artemis. He thinks she'll gain consciousness soon and the boys are still out harassing Rodger." Flash suddenly looked down and pulled back his hood. "Uh Di," Wally said, "I just, I wanted to apologize for you know. Never realizing that Sarah was your daughter and what Rodger was doing to her and for letting Katie Donnell die…"

Diana suddenly pulled him into a hug, "Wally, it's okay." She ruffled his hair like he was still a kid, "you and your family gave her something of a home. I can't thank you enough for that." She smiled again, "Don't worry about it Wally, let's just get through today."

Flash nodded and zipped off.

Shayara was waiting, "Alright how to do we find a god?"

Diana paused, "Shy," she was almost hesitant, "are we good?"

Shayara turned in her chair and studied her friend, "Di, my answer isn't going to change. While I wish what happened for you could have happened for me I will never begrudge you that fact. I'm happy for you and Bruce." Shayara grinned and slapped Diana with her wing as she turned, "stop getting all sappy, of course we're good. Now sit your royal rumpus down, we've got a god to find."

Diana sat as told, shaking her head at Shayara's insistence that she was still a spoiled princess after all this time, "Finding a god isn't going to be easy."

"It shouldn't be too hard," Shayara rolled her eyes, "from my experience gods really like to stand out. We just find a cocky guy who looks like Artemis back there. They're siblings right?"

Diana shook her head, "it's not that easy. Gods can easily change their appearance, the only thing consistent about Apollo is that he's male and never has a beard."

"There are a lot of beardless duded out there," Shayara thought about it, "Alright well what's he god of? He's probably doing something related to that. Sun god right? So maybe a tanning salon?"

Diana sighed, "If only it were that easy, Apollo is one of the most diverse gods. He is considered the sun god, of light in general actually. He is also the god of healing and plagues."

"So medical jobs are in." Shayara said, "that's still not bad."

Diana continued, "He's the god of music, poetry and leader of the muses. He's generally athletic although prone towards archery. He watches herds and flocks. He's evolved to watch colonists as well. Finally he's a god of truth and prophecy, which means that if there is a prophecy about Sarah he'll know it."

Shayara stared at Diana, "So he could be doing tanning salons, medicine, music, poetry and the arts, archery, sheparding, colonists which is government or any kind of oracle type thing." Shayara looked at the computer, "that is quite the list."

"He was the patron of Delphi," Diana suggested, "you could try there."

"Too obvious if you want to hide," Shayara said but start anyway, "what about those letters? I don't suppose Sarah mentions a guy named Apollo at any point?"

Diana looked at the dwindling pile, "We could find out."

* * *

Genetic Donors:

I finally did it. I finally left. Just me and the world. For once no one on my tail, watching what I do, deciding who I am. I am alone. I've always been alone, but finally there are no more pretenses. No more fake friends, no more teachers trying to help out, no more social workers with their painted smiles; this is reality. I burned all my money hopping a plane to Europe but it's better this way. Less to worry about, more land to scour.

Because I'm searching for something you can't find in the Americas. I don't think it's in Europe either. You can't find it in those places, filled with their thoughts of the future and all their technology. I gave up my quest to destroy Supers for Aaron, so now it's time for my quest. I'm going to be all that I can be and I'm going to make sure that people like me never come to exist. No other little girl needs to have their innocent mother explode; I'm going to keep them safe. But I can't do that in places where their solutions are genetic enhancements and cyber techs. They take people and make them into weapons. The second you take their deals – they own you.

I will not be owned. I will not be a superhero. I will not have superpowers. I will be human no matter what the universe says. I will not be me. I will be what I need to be.

The first step is control. I've done a decent job but there are slip ups, there are always slip ups. I need a teacher, some-one who can teach me control, then how to be a proper human. How to fight fire, how to play with gods. There are rumours. They swirl around in the dark shadows I know so well. If Aaron is the blue light of hope then I'll be the opposite, the darkness of realism. Watching from the sidelines until I'm needed. Pragmatic.

So I'm walking. Sometimes I hitchhike. Sometimes I manage to sneak on a train. I do what I have to. Steal what I need to survive. But mostly I'm walking. It's good. Walking is something I can do, it teaches control, discipline, strength. I'm walking until I find what I'm looking for. I've got a name, a league who can give me what I'm looking for, one of darkness, one of shadow.

- S

* * *

"Diana," Shayara finally broke the silence. She watched her friend with narrowed eyes as Wonder Woman's fist crumpled the letter in her hand. Shayara tried to change Diana's train of thought, "she sounds a lot like Batman doesn't she?"

Wonder Woman didn't rise to the bait. She tilted her head to the side and her eyes narrowed to slits as she pressed her earpiece, "Nightwing," she snapped, not giving the young man a chance to ask questions, "Tell me you have Talia on the line. I have some words for her."

* * *

**Your requests for an update have not been ignored. I was going to hiatus this while I finished The Six but as five or six of you have specifically asked for continuation my guilt got the better of me. The current plan is to have both stories done by the end of May. We'll see how that goes... But I do want to thank you for your patience and know that I really do appreciate your encouragement, it makes a good kick in the pants. ;)**


	15. Letter 15: Dapper

The Founders regrouped at the teleporter pad as Batman, John and Aaron returned to the Watchtower.

"Learn anything?" Diana asked as soon as they materialized.

Batman shook his head, "Nothing useful."

"Except that the man is awful," John muttered.

Aaron was pretty quiet. He dodged past his mom, "I'm going to go find the others." He scampered out of the room.

The teleporter light flashed again. Mr Terrific looked up from where he'd been watching the console, "Unauthorized attempted teleporter."

"Clear it." Batman and Wonder Woman spoke at the same time.

The device flashed once and Talia Al Ghul stood before them, hands in the air and guns holstered. "I believe you called?" She said.

"We need to talk," Batman said briskly, "Come on."

The entire group began to follow. Batman stopped, "We don't _all_ need to talk. There are still things that need doing. Talia, Diana with me. The rest of you, go do something useful."

"But we're curious," Flash's whine followed them around the corner.

* * *

"Great, your back!" Olivia's voice greeted Aaron before he'd even fully entered the room, "now Iris can spill all the beans."

"O!" Jack chastised, "let the kid breath."

Rex looked at his little brother with concern, "How'd it go little dude? You okay?"

Aaron rubbed the back of his neck as he sat beside his brother, "It was interesting."

Mar'i smiled kindly at him, "You want to talk about it?"

"He's just… well he's not a very nice man." Aaron finished lamely, "but I mean I knew that. So I don't know why I was surprised."

Rex put his arm around the boy, "You just keep hoping Aaron and don't ever stop."

Aaron leaned into his brother's arm. Sometimes he looked as young as he was, "He'd seen Sarah but it had at least been a couple of years. He didn't know where she'd gone so it didn't help Uncle Bruce and Aunt Diana either." His brow furrowed, "I'm worried about her. She didn't get a family like I did. Mr Donnell made her seem really angry and mean…" Then his brow cleared, "I'm sure was just over doing it. I don't think he liked her very much… What is wrong with Iris?"

As Aaron spoke Iris' legs had been bouncing faster and faster until they were a yellow blur.

"Iris knows something," Olivia explained, "but she wouldn't tell us until you got back. This would be back."

The words exploded from FazeFlash's mouth, "So what the adults didn't tell us was that I knew Sarah. Like I knew her for a long time. Heck, I use to kind of bully her." Iris checked herself, "not that I'm proud of that but you know. Kids will be kids. And I wouldn't say bully it was just that she was such a nerd and she hung out with Jay all the time. So it was kind of required that I at least poke a little fun."

"Iris." Mar'i interrupted, "Focus."

"Right!" Iris got back on track, "So it turns out that she's Sarah Donnell right? Which you all knew but what you didn't know was that she was basically Jay's best friend until we moved. They were together all the time. John, you met her too. Remember when you went to prom with me? She was Jay's date."

Superboy and Warhawk made eye contact before he responded, the Iris, John and Rex love triangle still made people uncomfortable, "I remember. She seemed nice enough."

"Where is Jay anyway?" Rex went to change the topic.

Iris shrugged, "No clue. That's part of the mystery. We haven't heard from him since he went zipping off after the fight. And you saw how antsy he was being before. Something's up with him. It just sucks that we can't find out when he last heard from Sarah. He's probably the person who's known her longest."

"They're still looking for her?" Mar'i asked.

Aaron answered, "yeah. I know that someone named Talia came through the teleporter right after me."

Robin jumped, "Talia?" Jack asked, "As in Talia Al Ghul?"

"Mmhmm," Aaron looked at him, "does that mean something to you?"

Mar'i looked thoughtful, despite being Nightwing's daughter she typically didn't get involved in Bat affairs, "Al Ghul, isn't that-"

"The League of Shadows," Jack confirmed. Suddenly the screens jumped to an image of the conference room as Batman, Wonder Woman, Talia and surprisingly a very beat up Artemis entered. "Oops," Jack smirked, "how did that happen?"

* * *

"Artemis, you need rest," Diana insisted.

The mortal goddess shook her head, "I need to restore the gods power. I will hear the story of Princess Sarah Wayne of Themescira as told by this mortal."

Talia helped herself to a seat, "So that why I'm here?"

Batman sat opposite her and passed the latest photo the Wests had of Sarah across the table, "Do you know this girl?"

Talia glanced at the photo, "I think you know that I do. How is she related to you?"

"How could you know that?" Diana interrupted.

Talia smiled, "A moody, temperamental, emotionally stunted, ridiculously determined, extremely fit teenager shows up my doorstep with a pair of eyes that I've only ever seen in one other head? It wasn't hard to figure out."

"And you didn't contact us?" Diana seethed.

Talia sat back, "I don't presume to reveal secrets. It doesn't exactly fit with the League of Shadows theme."

Batman remained calm, "You let her in?"

"I did."

"Don't you think she was a little young?" Batman asked, "last I checked the League had rules about that kind of thing. Only your father would let a child in."

Talia gave him a look, "I'm not my father. She was 18. She had the drive, that's all I require."

Batman and Diana exchanged glances, "She should have been 16."

Talia shook her head, "I had the magicians check her history. Definitely 18. I don't let 16 year olds in." She smiled at the reaction that brought, "Did I mess up your timeline?"

Bruce ignored the question, "Is she still with you?"

"No." Talia said, "Sadly she, like you, couldn't bring herself to kill. She took the skills we gave her and left just over a year after arriving. I suppose you would be proud of that."

"Where did she go?" Diana interrupted.

Talia shrugged, "I don't know. I haven't heard from her and unlike other League dropouts she hasn't reappeared as say a masked vigilante, world figure or supervillain."

Artemis pounded the table, "This is unacceptable. We need to know where the girl is now. You must know more."

Talia considered, "She must be quite important to you." Her eyes met Bruce's.

He held her gaze but put a hand on Diana's, "She's our daughter Talia. I need to find her."

Talia blinked once, and then smiled a wry smile, "Like father like daughter then." She turned to Diana, "Although your presence could certainly be seen now that's it been made clear to me. I do know this," Talia continued, "She already had training before she came to me. Not in martial arts. But she had great self-control, focus. She was apt with a bow as well but it was her focus that most impressed me. Total control over what she was doing. I don't believe I ever saw her let loose." Talia stood, "If I might get back to my work?"

Batman nodded.

"Good luck Bruce, Diana," Talia said.

"Talia," Bruce stopped her, "An attack by Ares is coming, you should be ready."

Talia nodded, "Very well."

Artemis spoke as soon as the door closed behind Talia, "that was unhelpful."

"It was very helpful," Batman corrected, "we've tracked her farther than expected. Roughly 19 and a half when she leaves the League of Shadows in Asia. We know she returns back to America because we can place her at her adopted father's house also around age 19. Most likely she confronted him as soon as she returned."

"However," Artemis said, "we are out of clues."

"I wasn't finished." Batman snapped, "I knew she was League of Shadows due to a symbol on a postcard from her letters. This however had fallen out of the pile and was therefore out of sequence. The last letter indicated that she was searching for the League. According to Talia's story she found someone else first. Someone who taught her control and," Batman emphasized, "skill with archery."

"Apollo," Diana met Bruce's gaze.

"Perhaps," he acquiesced, "If you would read the next letter?"

* * *

Dear Genetic Donors:

You never find what you're looking for in the place you expect to find it. I got diverted. I can't explain it but I knew where I had to go. So off I went. I don't believe in fate or destiny or anything but sometimes hunches have value. I'm fairly sure I'm in Nepal but after a while mountains blend together. However I've found a teacher, I can finally shed who I am for who I need to be.

I get up at six in the morning and meditate. Although neither of us are monks the real monks are nice enough to let us stay in their monastery. It's nice here. Peaceful. Calm. The perfect place to find control and the safest place to lose it. Because I have to lose it to control it. The monks don't bat an eye regardless of what I accidently destroy. Even A.P. seems to think it's funny but he's the most chill guy I've met.

Somehow he understand though, he knows how to teach me. It's like he knows things about me that I don't even know. I asked him once why he's helping me, he just smiled and kept playing his guitar. He said something about being invested in the future. Whatever, it's weird but I need his help. It's not all Zen-Yoda stuff either. I'm in the best shape I've ever been from trekking up and down the mountains all the time. A.P. is teaching me archery too. He says that there's no need to get hurt if you can deal with it from far away. In down time he teaches me how to play his guitar.

However he won't be the last stop on my journey. I need to learn more. Regardless I do need to learn how to properly fight, and I'm going to need gear. I'm going to need money too. Still, one step at a time. Control. The world says one thing, I beg to differ.

-S

* * *

Artemis rose, "That certainly sounds like my brother. Where is this Nepal? We must begin the hunt immediately."

"He won't be there anymore," Batman said, "It's been too long. If he's hiding he wouldn't stay in one place."

Diana was rereading the letter, "She seems quite focused on control."

"It's necessary for training." Batman said.

"Of course," Diana acquiesced, "but it just seems, excessive. And, Bruce, she keeps mentioning not wanting to be what the world wants her to be. It, just doesn't make sense." Diana looked at her husband, "What could the world want her to be in a monastery in Nepal?"

"Food for thought," Batman said, "But we need to focus on finding her. There were some tangible clues in there. I have a few contacts in Nepal. It's worth checking to see if any of them remember A.P. or have a picture. We also know she needs money. League of Shadow members have fairly particular connections. We might be able to use one of the old channels that Talia isn't in charge of. There might be something there."

Suddenly Flash burst into the room, "I know where Jay was an hour ago." The other founders, Linda and Lois piled into the room after him.

"What? Where?" Diana asked immediately.

Flash slapped a picture on the table in front of them, "I was watching every camera we have access too at once on fast forward. I caught this the second time around. Then Shy did some magic computer stuff and tada." The image was blurry.

"It's from an ATM camera," Shayara explained, "in Metropolis."

"Bring it up on the screens," Batman ordered.

* * *

The image also appeared on the screens in front of the JLJ. The team was crowded around the monitor like it was handing out gold.

"John! Move your head," Olivia ordered, "I can't see anything."

"Stop shoving then," Mar'i said.

Aaron wiggled to the front, "Any way we can make that less blurry?"

As though the screen had heard him the image resolution increased, clearly the adults had done something on their end.

Jaws dropped. "O.M.G." Iris couldn't help herself, "What is Jay wearing?"

They stared at the image some more trying to compute what they were seeing.

"Well," Jack said at last, "I suppose it was always possible."

"Possible!" Iris shrieked, "Do you know how long I've been trying to get him to wear something other than sports shirts and track pants? Do you know? I don't think you do! And know here he goes and looks… well… dapper!" Iris could not handle it, "I mean that outfit is straight off a model. He's got a bowtie on for Pete's sake! And a nice jacket. Like one that's not a windbreaker. A real jacket. Jay does not wear bowties! What is going on here!"

Olivia cast a critical eye over the image, "He does look pretty hot doesn't he?"

Rex elbowed her, "Don't say that. You'll kill Iris."

Iris had sunk to the floor, just staring at it and mumbling to herself, "That's not possible. It's just not. It's not Jay. Can't be. Body snatchers. Aliens. Creepy second twin. Just no. Nope. No. Well, I mean. I'm hot. So he has to be too. But. No. . Jay does not dress well."

Jack, ever critical, was still examining the image. Bruce was clearly doing the same and various pieces of the picture were zooming in and out on the screen. It paused twice and a separate image file was made for both. Jack looked at them and his eyebrows shot up over the Robin mask.

Then a huge grin light his face. His teammates gave him funny looks. Jack just pointed to the new images. It took Mar'i a minute but suddenly she too burst out in laughter. Everyone was looking at them.

Jack leaned back against the console as Mar'i finally got the words out, "You better brace yourself Iris."

The girl looked up from the floor, "What?"

Jack kept grinning, "He's on a date."

Iris repeated herself, "What!"

Jack turned back to the screen. "Look at this. He's at an ATM so he's getting money. He's dressed oddly well. But more interestingly," Jack tapped on the first image, "that's a VIP backstage pass to a concert. You can't tell which one but it's definitely some kind of show. But more interestingly," he tapped the second image.

"That's a shadow," Aaron said.

"You bet it is," Jack said, "from a person standing behind him."

John squinted, "They could just be waiting to use the ATM next."

Jack shook his head, "Too close. That person is literally standing right beside Jay, could even be holding his hand."

Iris looked at the ceiling, "I can't handle this."

"So who is it?" Olivia asked.

Jack shrugged, "No idea, it's just a shadow. The League will probably be able to find him thought. They just need to get a look at all the concerts going on today. It could take a while because Jay could literally be going to a show anywhere."

"Not if she doesn't know he has superpowers," Rex pointed out, "it's probably only a few hours radius."

Jack nodded, "True. Regardless, if it's a late show they wouldn't be there yet. So the League will have to wait until then. They could be anywhere for dinner."

"You think it's Sarah?" Aaron said softly. The team quieted, "I mean," he explained, "he's known her for forever right? And it _is_ her birthday today isn't it?"

"No way of knowing for sure," Jack said.

"That could mean it's NOT a date," Iris jumped on the idea, "I mean they're friends. They don't like each other like that. This would just be like a birthday party thing. No dating. If he'd wanted to date her he'd had years to do it."

The Watchtower intercom clicked on and Nightwing's voice came through, "Attention everyone. We have a level five sighting. Everyone should report to the commisionary for further instructions. All non-essential personnel should make their way to the teleporters for evacuation. This is not a drill."

Rex hefted his mace and said what they all were thinking, "Ares."

* * *

**Thanks for the reviews and the support guys. I really appreciate it, makes my day.**

**We're heading quite quickly into the ending now so stay tuned.**

**Also I hope you love reading Iris as much as I love writing her, she has the best reactions. **


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